


Pre-Gaming (Pre LtG One Shot Collection)

by bruisespristine



Series: Taylor Swift Verse (College AU, no actual TSwift) [2]
Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff and Smut, Headcanon from HtP, Housemates, Non-Monogamy, Nonsense, One Shot Collection, Relationship Negotiation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-10
Updated: 2016-05-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 00:37:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 62,707
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5185538
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bruisespristine/pseuds/bruisespristine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Collection of One Shots from my College!AU. <b> Read after Hate the Player </b><br/>Each thing will go up complete as one chapter. Warnings delivered in chapter notes.</p><p>Chapter 1 has a contents in its notes :)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Even a Blacklight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 1) Sometimes friends bang a little bit and that's okay. Skip if you don't want smut {Zoe/Shaw, pwp}  
> 2) Housies got your back {Shaw/OFC mentions}  
> 3) A very machine Thanksgiving {Gen}  
> 4) Negotiation fic {Root/Shaw}  
> 5) Threeway. 9000 words of porn. I am so sorry Skip if you don't want smut {Root/Shaw/Kelli, pwp}  
> 6) Important (not really) conversations {Root/Shaw, fluff}  
> 7) Team Machine decorate their tree {Root/Shaw + housies, smut and fluff}  
> 8) Ikea at Christmas time is more fun if you're a perv {Root/ Shaw fluff and smut}  
> 9) It's important to have Christmas traditions {Root/Shaw + housies, fluff and smut}  
> 10) Communication is key {Root/Shaw + housies, fluff and angst}  
> 11) Zoe is the best {Zoe + Shaw, Root/Shaw, fluff and smut, respectively}  
> 12) Party time {Root/Shaw mostly smut. Bordering pwp}  
> 13) Housie hang outs {housies + Root/Shaw. fluff and smut}  
> 14) Zoe watches Bound, also some banging but not with her {smut, fluff, negotiations, smut again}  
> 15) Shaw and Zoe talk about sex {kinda fluff I guess?}  
> 16) Zoe takes Raven home {dr mech crossover smut}

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember when Zoe drank for 'Never have I ever made out with Shaw?' she does too. This takes place two years before Hate the Player, approximately six months after Team Machine all moved in together. Pairing Zoe/Shaw
> 
> **content warning** Lots of weed, sex under the influence, mentions of fucking your own clone (i dunno who that would trigger, but for safety's sake) mentions of zombies, but not in a sexy way.
> 
> Skip this one if you are not in for the smut

“That fucking asshole Collier told his friends I like it up the ass.” Zoe barges into Shaw’s room like she owns the place, which isn’t exactly weird for her. She flings her purse down in the laundry pile and flops onto the bed, spilling the loaded ashtray and almost knocking Shaw’s beer out of her hand. 

Shaw grumbles and moves over slowly, licking beer drips off the back of her hand and grabbing the ashtray to move it out of reach. She then picks the teeny end of her joint back up, takes a hit and offers it to Zoe who doesn’t even bother to take it out of Shaw’s hands, just leans in and sucks on her fingertips, filling her lungs. The suction sends a fat, lazy spark of heat down into Shaw’s belly and she grins with pleasure. Zoe does shit like that to try and get a rise out of her, and it never works, but it’s a fun game they both enjoy. 

“You do like it up the ass. Nothing wrong with that. Do what makes you feel good.” Shaw points out in a mild tone, allowing Zoe to keep her left hand while she props her beer bottle between her legs, she’s been nursing it for an hour now and it’s already too warm. She clicks the volume on her phone down so the TV screen stops blaring and Mila Jovovich murders zombies quietly instead of at full blast. 

Zoe takes another drag, releases Shaw’s hand and settles back into the pillows, making herself at home and exhaling a cloud of thick white smoke. “That is totally besides the goddamn fucking point.” 

“I told you not to fuck him.” Shaw grins, leaning over to place the dying roach into the ashtray and glancing at Zoe. “Don’t shit where you eat.” She cracks up laughing, and Zoe rolls her eyes and hits her gently, stealing the beer and taking a big gulp before pulling a displeased face.

“This beer is rank, you’re as baked as a cake, and men are evil. I hate today.” She crawls over Shaw’s outstretched legs, grabs the papers and the little baggy of weed from the side table and starts rolling a new spliff with competent fingers.

“Most men are stupid assholes, not actually evil.” Shaw corrects, waving a finger regally. “I told Tomas it was never gonna get any better than this with me, and do you know what he said?” she doesn’t actually wait for Zoe to reply, just snorts and continues, “he said I was _broken_. Asshole!” 

“You’re not broken.” Zoe twirls the end of the spliff neatly, rolls a little cylinder of cardboard to wiggle into the other end and then bites off the twist with sharp white teeth. Shaw watches her mouth with interest and Zoe grins at her, sparking up and speaking with her inhale, making a squinty face. “You’re a blacklight.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” Shaw drawls lazily, reaching for the joint as Zoe blows an excellent Irish waterfall, smoke streaming over her lip and up into her nose. 

Zoe fends her off and takes a couple more sharp little tokes before handing it over, waving a hand expansively, clearly getting on Shaw’s level. “You’re a blacklight. Humanity as lightbulbs, it’s one of my professor’s things, she goes on about it all the time. Some people glow brighter than others, we all end up with fingerprints all over us, some get broken or dusty. Filaments snap. Different shapes and sizes, different purposes. Different colours. It’s an elaborate and unnecessarily extended metaphor. The point is,” she looks around the room, points at the light on the ceiling, “most lightbulbs make things pretty easy to see, that’s kind of the point, but some...” she slides out of bed and loses her balance for a moment, then recovers with a grin and flicks the main light off, so the TV becomes the biggest source of illumination before she clicks on Shaw’s blacklight, the UV strip that runs around the seam of her ceiling—the sole reason she demanded this room when they all moved in. Everything white takes on an eerie glow and Zoe grins, teeth startling in the dark, “some make things way more interesting. Harder to see, but interesting.”

“And, they solve murders!” Shaw adds, feeling like this is an important factor in the blacklight discussion, and Zoe snickers, plopping back down on the bed and leaning her head on Shaw’s shoulder companionably.

“Exactly. So don’t listen to that jerkwad Tomas. I never liked him anyway, with his puppy eyes and his constant conviction he’s God’s gift to the female species. You’re not broken, you’re a blacklight. Way more interesting.” 

Their faces are close together, and Shaw narrows her eyes to focus. From this close, the glowing white stripes in Zoe’s shirt are very noticeable, and Shaw reaches out to drag her finger over one with a grin. “That’s a stupid metaphor.”

“Well, you are unusually good at finding sperm,” Zoe cracks up laughing, pointing at Shaw’s feet, and Shaw groans, rolling her eyes.

“When there’s jizz on the bathroom floor, stepping in it is not weird! I couldn’t see!” 

“Shoulda turned the blacklight on,” Zoe struggles to get the joke out through her laughter, and Shaw growls at her, taking another hit on the joint before carefully leaning it up in the ashtray and joining Zoe in her sniggers, against her will. 

On the screen, Alice gets up close and personal with Claire, the heat between them practically tangible, and Zoe shifts to point at the TV, her long legs reaching much further down the bed than Shaw’s. “Are they gonna make out?”

“You’d think, but no. Unfortunately not. For some reason the filmmakers mistakenly believe that she’s straight. I dunno what movies they are watching, but clearly not the same ones I am. But you do get naked Alice clones at the end, and I, for one, am hoping she ‘experiments’ with one of them in the next movie. Is it gay if you have sex with yourself?” Shaw waggles her eyebrows and Zoe snorts.

“That’s actually another psych question. If you met your clone, and you had to fuck her or fight her, which would you do?” Zoe’s breath is warm on Shaw’s face and for once she’s not uncomfortable being close to someone. Her housemates usually respect her levels of comfort and give her her physical space, but Zoe has always liked to get extra cozy when she’s stoned and Shaw’s not bothered enough right now to stop her, her limbs are all melted sugar and she doesn’t have it in her to protest or move. The body warmth is nice, and her tingly skin appreciates it.

“Both, definitely! But if I had to pick one, I guess we’d draw in a fight so I’d probably fuck her. I’m an awesome lay.” Shaw doesn’t have to think about her answer at all. “You?”

“I guess fuck her, at least _I_ know what I like.” Zoe snarks, raking her long hair back so she can lean more comfortably. “And I hate fighting.”

“I would put money on you being better in bed than Collier,” Shaw laughs, shifting so her shoulder is less squashed, which has the effect of pressing their hips together. The contact feels good and Shaw wriggles comfortably, body hyper sensitive from the weed.

“Thought about what I’d be like in bed, have you Shaw?” Zoe looks up at her from under her eyelashes, and Shaw freezes, eyeing her, not sure if she’s reading the intention in Zoe’s eyes totally incorrectly.

“Maybe,” she hedges, her mind foggy and her eyes drawn down to Zoe’s lips. Zoe’s tongue flicks out briefly, wetting them, and Shaw feels her face soften in response as her stomach does a lazy flip. 

They move at the same time, Zoe tilts up, Shaw shifts down, and just like that they’re kissing. It’s new, but not entirely strange. Zoe’s mouth is soft and tastes faintly of strawberries behind the smoke, and Shaw chases the flavour with her tongue, eyes fluttering closed. It’s an indolent kiss at first, fuzzy round the edges with tongues sliding together and tiny noises of approval coming from one or the other of them as they press together. 

It gathers heat when Shaw wriggles, wanting more contact, pressing Zoe into the bed and sliding on top of her, straddling her thigh and pushing down with a groan. Zoe pulls back a little, opening her eyes and breathing heavily, and Shaw leans in to lick her neck, because it looks lickable. 

Zoe does a little stutter under her, and then her hands slide around Shaw’s back, fingernails digging gently into her shoulders and hips rising up to meet Shaw’s, their bodies slotting together with a little adjustment. Shaw hums happily, sucking on Zoe’s bottom lip and kissing her mouth back open, hands pressing into the bed to support some of her weight.

In the background, the TV flickers and light catches on the haze of smoke in the room while Shaw presses against Zoe and Zoe presses back, her hands gripping rhythmically with the movement of their hips against each other. 

Shaw wants more, more contact, and more little noises, so she lifts up for a moment and urges Zoe’s legs apart with her hand under her knee, lifting one leg up so she can get between them, really push against her, and Zoe makes a little groaning noise deep in her throat as their groins make contact. 

Shaw can feel the slow build of pleasure in the base of her belly, fuelled by the warm, squirmy body underneath her, and it doesn’t bother her at all that it’s Zoe, doesn’t even cross her mind that maybe this is weird. There’s bodies, and touching, and it feels so good, all soft skin and warm cotton and hands grasping at her shoulder blades, holding her close. 

Zoe moans and sighs, and Shaw wants to make her feel good so she slides her hand between them, scraping Zoe’s nipple lightly through her shirt and pulling back to watch her face. Zoe makes a little ‘oh’ of concentration her eyes screwed closed and her hair is in wild disarray, which Shaw enjoys and leans down to rub her face in, gently kneading Zoe’s breast through her shirt. 

Zoe hisses in pleasure and Shaw grazes her hand down Zoe’s side, searching and finding warm skin at her hip and sliding her fingers into toy with it, scratching gentle patterns. Zoe says “mmm, yeah,” and so Shaw continues her exploration, lifting her body up with her biceps so she can worm her hand down and tease Zoe’s inner thigh, which makes her shiver and open her eyes, all wide and dark dark dark. 

Shaw raises an eyebrow at her, dragging her fingertips up very, very slowly and Zoe blinks languidly and drawls, “never pegged you as so polite, Shaw,” and hearing her name does nice things to Shaw’s insides so she rewards Zoe by cupping her over her pants, pressing her fingertips against the seam and leaning down to suck the groan off her lips. 

She rubs Zoe off using her thigh for leverage, revelling in the throaty little sounds Zoe makes as Shaw touches her. 

Eventually, Zoe reaches down between them and unbuttons her jeans, Shaw slides her hand inside, and Zoe comes apart around her fingers in a few, long, downward strokes of her clit. Shaw smirks cockily as she slips her hand back out and wipes it on the bedsheet, rolling off Zoe in favour of a little space, enjoying the warm arousal churning in her stomach. 

This is Shaw’s usual type of horny, although hazier. A sensation she enjoys, but can ignore fairly easily, if she has to. Not like the burn that consumes her whole skin when someone has her number, knows her kinks and uses them to short circuit her brain. If Zoe’s done with this, that’s okay with Shaw, if not, well, she could roll either way. She's pretty easy like that. 

Zoe only breathes deeply for a moment, before she wriggles over and throws her leg over Shaw’s, tentatively reaching up for a breast. “You know I’ve never...”

“You don’t have to,” Shaw inhales deeply as Zoe cups her, feeling her nipple harden. 

“College is for experimenting, isn’t it?” Zoe pinches Shaw’s nipple, and then pushes her shirt up to look at it while she rolls it between her fingers. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah.” Shaw grins, reaching to the side of the bed and relighting their joint, taking a long drag before offering her mouth to Zoe. When the taller girl accepts the kiss, she exhales slowly and Zoe breathes her second hand smoke, sitting back with a smirk. 

“Different to our usual blow back.” She leans back in and this time there’s no smoke, only a kiss and Zoe teases at her nipples with her nails for a while, but doesn’t seem to want to experiment any further. Eventually Shaw gets impatient, and with a mental shrug, slides her hand down into her own shorts, swirling her fingers through the slick she’s created and biting Zoe’s lip lightly as she slides her fingers into herself. 

Zoe kisses her unhurriedly while she fucks herself, and the pressure sparking in the base of her spine flares up and she pushes her second hand down to join the first, sliding a finger each side of her clit just the way she likes it and rocking them against each other with gathering speed until she’s almost there, almost over, and Zoe leans down to cover her nipple with her mouth and Shaw comes in little waves, slow and sparkly. 

She floats back down and frees her hands, wiping them off on her shorts and looking warily at Zoe out of the corner of her eye. Zoe’s just taking another long drag from the joint, and she rolls her eyes when she catches Shaw looking.

“What’s a few orgasms between friends? It’s not like I’m worried you’re gonna get clingy. And we all know I’ll never actually turn. I love the cock.” 

Shaw snickers and shrugs, relaxing and holding her hand out for the joint. Zoe looks at her skeptically. “Aren’t you gonna wash those?” 

“You’d make a terrible lesbian, Zoe,” Shaw grumbles, sliding out of bed and pulling her shorts out of her butt before shuffling out to the washroom. 

She rinses her hands off and catches sight of her reflection in the mirror, she looks a little wild eyed and fairly baked, but the smirk on her face is a familiar one, and she winks at herself muttering, “straight girls are so easy,” before heading back to the bedroom.  


They finish watching the movie and then Shaw puts the first Resident Evil on so Zoe can see how gay Alice is. Zoe agrees she’s pretty gay.


	2. A Kiss With a Fist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Shaw came out as a kinkster to Team Machine. Housies fic, no smut. Highly recommend reading Hate the Player first.  
>  **content warning** Mentions of BDSM

Shaw is actually slightly nervous, she thinks. She doesn’t have a huge amount of experience with that particular emotion, but while she can identify excitement as one of the feelings she’s currently suffering from, there’s an underlying current of something else. Maybe nerves. 

She checks her outfit for the third time, wondering if there’s such a thing as inappropriately dressed for a kinky one night stand with someone you met on a fetish website, but figures there can’t be much wrong with her black ensemble. After all, she’s not the type to go parading through town in a latex onesie, even if she is looking for someone to top the shit out of her. Probably. Fuck. Is this a terrible idea?

It was an accident she even ended up here. She’s not sure she would have connected the dots by herself, not being particularly introspective, but a chance encounter set her on this path and she doesn’t think she can walk away from it. A woman whom she’d met at a club asked her casually ‘do you mind if I choke you?’ before proceeding to give Shaw the most incredible six orgasms of her young life after she agreed...That experience opened up doors in Shaw’s psyche that she had no idea were there, had connected to stuff that Shaw doesn’t have words for but wants to feel again. 

Which is why, after lurking on the site for a few months, and then eventually, finally filling out her profile with some wild guess work around what she thinks she’d like to try, she messaged one of the female doms in the city who had expressed interest in her. 

And now, she’s off to meet Mz Razr, and anticipation, excitement and yeah, maybe some teeny tiny nerves, are buzzing through her blood like redbull. 

She’s shoving her feet into her Dr Martens when Zoe barges through the front door, almost knocking her over. “Where are you going all fancy, hot date?”

“What? I’m not fancy?” Shaw looks down at herself, confused, and Zoe smirks, pointing out various parts of her anatomy as she replies.

“Best jeans, you’ve polished your shoes, and your hair is down. You never leave your hair down. Splainy.” 

“Uh. Yeah, hot date.” Shaw fumbles with her stupid laces, cursing and wishing it was velcro.

“Oh, sorry, we appear to have never met. I’m Zoe, and I am going to need to know a lot more details than that before I let you out the door, homefries.” Zoe locks the front door and leans against it, eyebrow raised. “You have a weird face on, by the way. Are you constipated?” 

“Urgh.” Capitulating, because Zoe is worse than a dog with a bone, and Shaw knows that she’ll never escape this conversation (and kind of maybe if Zoe tells her she’s not crazy that might help with the innards situation), she sits on the bottom stair. Zoe bats her hands away and starts sorting out the enormous knot Shaw has somehow managed to tie in one of her bootlaces. “I uh.. I met a woman online.” 

“Is this your way of trying to tell me you’re an enormous gaymo? Cause you kind of spilled that load when you brought two girls home last month. At the same time. And then kept me up all night with the screaming. Oh, and that time you shoved your hands down my pants during Resident Evil was definitely a hint.” She finishes with a cherubic grin and a bat of the eyelashes. 

Shaw growls, taking over the tying of her shoe and managing to get the laces through the hole this time. “Technically YOU shoved MY hand down YOUR pants.” She thinks her question evasion game is pretty solid, actually.

Zoe leans back on the door and eyes her for a moment, with what Shaw calls her 'analysis face', pursing her lips. “You really wanna keep this to yourself?” 

The noise that comes out of Shaw isn’t even a real word, and Zoe shrugs, getting to her feet. “Well, there aint no judgement coming from me, if that’s what you’re worried about, but I’m not gonna force you to talk. You look like you might throw up, and nobody wants that.” 

“Imetheronakinksite.” The words tumble out all mixed up and it clearly takes Zoe a minute to sort through and figure out what she’s said, and then Zoe slides back down the door and sits on the mat with a thoughtful expression. 

“Huh.” 

“Yeah.” It’s a tired exhale, and Zoe pokes her in the knee. 

“Don’t be weird about it. Fly your freak flag proudly. People try to tell me liking anal this much is wrong, and I say, fuck you guys, butt play is the best play. You.. having second thoughts?” 

“I dunno, maybe.” Shaw runs her hands through her hair, looks at the shiny toes of her boots. “What if I’m wrong?” 

“Then... you use your whatchamacallit, safeword, which you’re definitely going to have because you’re not an idiot even if you are a newbie, and call one of us to pick you up.” She lifts a shoulder. “People do it all the time, you’ll be fine. Oh, but first, lemme see her profile.”

Shaw grumbles but finds the site on her mobile and hands it to Zoe, who promptly gets to her feet and marches through the living room. “Hey, where are you.. Zoe, goddamnit.” 

Zoe’s already in Harold’s room by the time Shaw catches up with her, and Harold has the phone in his hand with a curious expression on his face. John’s lounging in the bed without a shirt on, but still wearing dress pants, reading a book about stress fractures in titanium. He’s such a weird dude, or, possibly Harold has a dress pants/ no shirt fetish. Who knows. “Hey, we need you to check Shaw’s date isn’t a serial killer.” 

“What?” Harold readjusts his glasses, looking at the screen. 

“Shaw on blind date, please to check out human make sure no dead body in basement...” Zoe does a terrible robot impression and Shaw wishes that she could just melt, she steps forward, about to snatch her phone back, when Harold looks at her with a faintly concerned expression. 

“Well, regardless of your... proclivities, safety is paramount. I’d be happy to run a quick background check.”

“I’m gonna be late,” Shaw protests weakly, not looking anyone in the eye.

“Better late than dead!” Zoe pronounces very cheerfully, sitting on the bed next to John and poking him in the nipple, he bats her away without looking, like an enormous, half-naked ninja. 

Harold plugs the phone into the computer, goes to the website, does some techy stuff and pulls up a facebook page, a linkedin, and some other random stuff. Zoe continues to attempt to poke John in the nipples, and Shaw just kind of waits in stoic silence until Harold looks up. “She appears to be a librarian by trade, nothing untoward I can find on a brief check. Do you have her address?”

Shaw has memorised the address, actually. “64 Beaconsfield Road.” 

Harold maps it, does something presumably to check for any police reports or whathaveyou coming from that address, and shrugs. “She seems like a perfectly normal human being. Have fun.” 

The front door slams, and Shaw holds her hand out for her phone. “So, if we’re done can I actually go?” The weird feeling in her chest has actually subsided a little. 

Joss pokes her head in Harold’s door and raises an eyebrow at them. “And just what is going on here, house meeting without me?”

Shaw is not quick enough to gag Zoe who slides past her and out the door, speaking fast, “Shaw’s going on a kinky whips and chains date with a librarian and Harold was making sure she’s not a serial killer!” 

Joss looks at Shaw who shifts awkwardly from foot to foot and shrugs, knowing there’s a belligerent expression on her face. Joss just snorts and says “cool,” before turning around and heading back to the front door. 

Confused, Shaw traipses after her, belatedly noting she’s leaving little marks on the hall carpet with her shoes. Harold is definitely going to be irritated about that.

“You need a ride?” Joss jingles her car keys, and Shaw checks the time. 

“Yeah, actually. She lives by the towers.” Shaw grabs her leather jacket, Joss shoves her feet into some sneakers and they head to the car. They don’t talk at all on the way, and Shaw tries not to get trapped in a circular thought pattern about what is going to happen this evening. 

Instead of pulling over, Joss parks in an actual parking lot and gets out, Shaw turns to look at her. “What are you doing?” 

“Waiting in... that cafe for you so you have a ride home.” Joss says placidly, locking the car and hoisting her purse up over her shoulder. “Problem?”

“Urgh. I could just _call_ you,” Shaw hisses furiously, and Joss shrugs.

“I’m here now, and I could use a cup of tea. Take your time, it’s a 24 hour place.” She winks at Shaw and starts walking so Shaw has to hurry to catch up.

“Harold checked her out, it’s fine. She’s a _librarian_.”

“And while I have every faith in Harold’s ability to make sure someone isn’t a crazy person, this is your first time doing this, and you met this rando on the internet. So I’m waiting in a cafe for you to take you home. Okay?” There’s that serious note in Joss’ voice that lets Shaw know that this is not really up for debate.

She scuffs her feet like an angry teenager as they exit the car park and she turns toward the house she’s heading for. “Fine. I might be ages, though.”

Joss just smiles and waggles her purse. “I brought a book. Go, have fun. Be safe. I’ll be in there.” She points at the tiny hole in the wall cafe they sometimes get breakfast at, and Shaw nods, stuffing her hands in her pockets. 

“I hate you.”

“Love you too, Shaw.” Joss throws back over her shoulder, already walking towards the cafe. 

Shaw’s stomach does a little twist as she walks up the stone steps to the front door and raises her hand to knock. It takes her three tries to get her hand to move, but she manages eventually.


	3. Spanksgiving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A seasonal family Spanksgiving dinner. No actual spanking. Housies fic.

ZOE @ ROOT // do you have plans for spanks yet? //

ROOT @ ZOE // you are weirdly invested in our sex lives you know that? I always have plans for spanks //

ZOE @ ROOT // ha! No. Autocorrect. (though always a bit funny when she can’t sit down properly) I meant SPANKSGIVING //

ROOT @ ZOE // ... well, no, then. I don’t have plans for ‘spanksgiving’. //

ZOE @ ROOT // shaw’s so dumb sometimes. We’re doing family spanksgiving at the casa, tomorrow if you’re not going out of town, 6ish, bring wine //

ROOT @ ZOE // okay, pervert //

ZOE @ ROOT // totally accurate. There’s nothing wrong with being a pervert //

ROOT @ ZOE // solidarity! //

*

ROOT @ SHAW // Zoe just invited me to spanksgiving at the casa //

SHAW @ ROOT // I thought I already told you about that? //

ROOT @ SHAW // nope //

SHAW @ ROOT // I meant to. You’re always distracting me. Yeah, 6 o clock. We basically just eat turkey and drink wine until we can’t move and then roll onto the sofa for The Addams Family. you should come. there’s always too much food. Fair warning I plan on being too full for sex/ any activity //

ROOT @ SHAW // distracting you? ;) //

SHAW @ ROOT // yeah I just remembered when I was supposed to ask you- you gagged me seconds after I got to your place and didn’t take the gag out until I was basically asleep //

ROOT @ SHAW // i’m pretty awesome //

SHAW @ ROOT // youre okay I guess. see you tmz. Wear stretchy pants //

ROOT @ SHAW // so you can molest me under the table? //

SHAW @ ROOT // no, asshole, so you can eat yourself nauseous //

ROOT @ SHAW // I’d rather eat you nauseous //

SHAW @ ROOT // that wasn’t hot //

ROOT @ SHAW // :D lies //

*

Root shivers as she knocks on the door, wishing she’d worn another layer or two. The moon is fat and heavy in the sky, lighting up her breath in dragon puffs while she rubs her hands together. 

After a moment, the door opens revealing Shaw with a lopsided paper hat on, something white smudged on her cheek and a faintly irritated expression. Root raises an eyebrow at the hat as Shaw gestures her in. “I lost a bet.” 

“Is that true, or are you lying to me because you secretly love festive paper hats?” Root snickers as she kicks her shoes off and shucks her coat, hooking it on the banister. 

Shaw rolls her eyes, and then grabs Root’s hand, making a humph noise, “you should be wearing gloves, it’s like ten below,” she shuts the door behind Root without letting go of her hand. 

“Yeah, I couldn’t find them. Thought they might be here, actually.” Root eyes the coat cupboard skeptically. “Probably in Narnia, if we’re honest.” 

Shaw grins, hiking up her tshirt a bit and putting Root’s cold hand on her stomach, hissing as the frigid skin makes contact. “Well, you’re never getting them back if they’re in there, so you may as well improvise.” 

Root slides her other hand under the tshirt, scraping her nails over Shaw’s tight muscles gently and then pressing her full palms to Shaw’s hot skin, making the smaller girl shiver inadvertantly and her eyes darken a touch. Root grins in pleasure, turning Shaw on is always fun. 

Delicious smells are wafting around the house, and Root can hear the clatter of pots and pans, but for a moment it’s like they’re the only two people in the house. Resisting the urge to shove her hand down Shaw’s pants and warm up that way, Root detangles and tucks Shaw’s hair behind her ear. “So what is going on with the Spanksgiving preparations? Can I help, can I take you upstairs and spank you before you’re too full for such activities...?” 

Zoe calls from the kitchen with a grin in her voice, “Why don’t you guys lay the table, rather than each other. I think we’re almost ready to serve, right John?” 

The only answer is a fervent curse followed by a banging noise, and Shaw snerks at Root, opening the door opposite the living room, “it’s a fucking war zone in there,” she flicks the light on and Root looks around, raising her eyebrows.

“You have a dining room?” The room is about the same size as the living area, with a huge wooden table big enough to seat 8 in the middle.

“...Yeah, what did you think was in this other room we never go in?” Shaw opens the top drawer in a dresser running the length of the room and hauls out a tablecloth. 

“Um... a gym, or something? Storage? Harold’s sex dungeon? I actually haven’t spent that much time considering the layout of your house. But this is nice! How fancy.” 

Shaw rolls her eyes and throws the tablecloth at Root, “here, set this up, I’m getting the cutlery.”

Root does as she’s told, dragging the huge, brightly patterned cloth over the wooden table and looks up when she hears a noise. Harold’s coming in from another door, his hands full of stereo equipment, and Root jogs over to help him. They start wiring the stereo up on top of the dresser, working together easily. “Did you iron out those loops you were struggling with?” Harold asks as he runs red wiring down the back of the dresser. 

“Sure did, thanks for that forum link, it was really helpful.” Root deftly winds the wires together and pokes them into the appropriate slots. 

“No problem at all, I was struggling with a similar situation last year, so I had a list of resources.” He starts fiddling with the dials, radio stations coming into focus for a moment and then fading to static before he lands on one he likes and soft folk music trickles into the room. Shaw bursts back through the door and Root gets to her feet to help put out knives and forks. 

“Should I get glasses?” she asks as she leans her hands on the back of a chair. 

“Yep, I gotta grab chairs, you do glasses, Harold do you know where those table protector pad things are?” 

"Do you mean placemats?" Harold queries, with a faint note of bewilderment in his voice. 

Root heads for the kitchen, scuffing her toes on the thick carpet. The door is open, and John is red faced, frantically carving an enormous, golden brown turkey while Zoe stirs something on the stove and Joss dishes various things up. Root spies mounds of potatoes, mashed and roasted, brussels, carrots and a huge dish of delicious looking stuffing. Her mouth waters eagerly and she swipes a fingerful of mash, sticking it in her mouth while she opens the cupboard with her other hand to get glasses. “Happy Thanksgiving, team,” she mumbles around her mouthful, “thanks for having me.” 

John gives her a grin as he finishes with the turkey and Zoe and Joss chime in unison, “Happy Spanksgiving, Root,” and then dissolve into giggles. 

“Why do y’all call it Spanksgiving?” Root leans her hip on the counter, then has to dodge out of the way as Joss whirls around with her hands full of hot serving plates. 

“Cause Thanksgiving is mired in horribly genocidal history, but Spanksgiving is about consensual pleasure. Plus, it’s much, much funnier.” Zoe answers around a silver spoon covered in cranberry sauce.

Root snickers as she balances wine glasses upside down between her fingers and heads back to the dining room, setting them down by each placemat in turn. 

“Dishing up!” comes the call from the kitchen, and Shaw jostles Root deliberately on the way through the door, pressing her ass into Root’s thigh, making her smirk. 

They pile their plates high, John pours everyone a hefty glass of wine, and then toasts the table once they’re seated. “To chosen family!” 

Everyone drinks and then Harold clears his throat, tilts his glass and gives them all a little smile, “to great food, and great company!” 

Joss lifts her glass and grins at them all, big and toothy, “to the people I love.” 

Zoe goes next, leaning an elbow on the table, and Root belatedly realises they’re all making a toast, she wracks her brains to decide what to say while Zoe speaks, “to remembering we are on unceded territory and trying to learn from our ancestor’s mistakes and educate ourselves accordingly.” Everyone clinks seriously to that one, a heavy moment of acknowledgement, and then Zoe gestures at Shaw. “Your turn.”

Shaw rolls her eyes but Zoe elbows her and raises a demanding brow, and Shaw gives in with a grumble, “to eating ourselves into a delicious coma.” 

Everyone looks expectantly at Root, and she licks her lips in thought, before lifting her glass up and clinking it against Shaw’s, “to you all, for making me so welcome, especially when you haven’t known me that long.” 

They all drink, then start digging in, but not before Zoe points at John with a laden fork and declares, “I guess no one told you that John invited Harold to our family Spanksgiving the second time they met?” 

“No, no they did not,” Root snickers, amused. “How did you guys meet, anyway?” 

Harold pinkens a little and John grins broadly, washing his mouthful of turkey down with some booze. “I rescued him!” 

“What?” Root is definitely intrigued now, and motions for him to continue, while simultaneously humming with pleasure at the amazing flavours mingling on her tongue. 

“Yeah, this genius got himself locked in the CompSci labs and was shouting out the window for help..” 

Harold cuts him off, half terse, half amused, it seems to Root, “I didn’t get myself locked in there, I was locked in there by some stupid sports team. _Your_ stupid sports team.” 

“Came back for you, didn’t I?” John gives him a beatific grin and Harold snorts softly.

“Yes, well, I suppose you did.”

“And then we lived happily ever after, so what’s the problem? It’s very romantic.” John leans over and presses a kiss to Harold’s cheek, making him duck his head and Zoe says aww while Shaw makes a fake vomit noise. 

“Less romantic was the way that John then moved Harold in with us, without asking, two weeks after they started dating. Like _lesbians_.” Shaw states, with a note of clear disgust in her voice.

“Hey, I’m a lesbian!” Root points out, poking Shaw in the knee.

“Not an annoying one. With the lady sign tattoos and the Uhauls, and the _cats_.” Root catches the note of mischief in Shaw’s voice and snakes her hand out, pinching her side.

“You’re a brat.” 

“Very true,” Joss chimes in, delicately loading her fork with a neat looking bite. “Shaw is an enormous brat. Also, Shaw, you totally moved Root in after she got out of hospital, so you’re hardly one to talk.”

“For a week! Under extenuating circumstances. And now Root sleeps at her own house... at least once a week.” 

“Oh, yes, completely different. I’ll return the cat I bought you.” Joss grins cherubically. 

Shaw just huffs and buries her face in her food, the rest of the table following suit. For a while, there’s no conversation except for remarks of how delicious something is, and requests for more wine. 

By the time Shaw starts on her third full plate, Root is so full she can barely move. She looks down at herself ruefully, her belly protruding in a hard little ball under her thin white shirt. She wishes she’d worn pajamas to the dinner. Shaw grins at her. “Toldja. It’s okay, we’ll veg for a while before pie.” 

“There’s pie?!” Root is caught between excitement and despair, convinced she will never be able to eat the pie, but wanting to very, very badly.

“Of course there’s pie. It’s Spanksgiving. It’s okay, pie goes in a different stomach to other food, you’ll be fine.”

“Is that right, Doctor?” Root can’t help the little trace of heat that lines the word Doctor when she says it to Shaw, it’s autopilot.

Zoe makes a ‘bzzzt’ noise, like a computer denying someone access, and shakes her head. “Pie is more important than sex. You have to stay down here with us. No steamy Doctor talk at the table today.” 

“I already told her, food is the most important thing on Spanksgiving, regardless of the erotic title, don’t worry.” Shaw carefully scrapes the last bite of gravy and mashed potato into a heap before stuffing it in her mouth and continuing to talk. “Besides, she’s weak. Look, she’s falling asleep!” 

Root’s eyes do feel a little heavy, the turkey and wine and fullness combining to make her yawn even as Shaw is speaking. “Turkey is a soporific.” She points out, leaning back in her chair and weaving her fingers together over her rotund tummy. 

They hang around the table a little longer, before clearing off and piling into the living room. Root takes her now usual spot between Shaw’s legs on the floor, Harold does the same in front of John, and the girls and John pile onto the sofa in a tangle. 

As the theme tune for Addams Family starts, Shaw pushes her hand into Root’s hair and starts fiddling with it. Root groans in pleasure. Usually she plays with Shaw’s hair, but Shaw doesn’t often return the favour unless Root’s got a headache. She leans her head against Shaw’s knee and relaxes into the soothing sensations, not even aware of when she falls asleep. 

Shaw wakes her up for pumpkin pie, which they all eat hot from the oven in front of the TV, covered in whipped cream, and then Shaw half carries Root to bed. 

They fall asleep with the tips of their toes crossed over each other’s, and wake up in the exact same position. It’s the best Thanksgiving Root has ever had. The lazy day in bed that follows is also pretty good.


	4. Steering Round the Curves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Navigating relationships can be hard. Shaw and Root have to figure out some rules for themselves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huge thanks to my beta [Alice in Kinkland](http://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceInKinkland/pseuds/AliceInKinkland). You should check her stuff out, it's dope.

“Root?” 

Root leans back in her chair, wedging her phone between her shoulder and her ear as she taps in a few more lines of code while distractedly replying. “Hey, sweetie. How’s it going?” 

“Good, I just... I’m out.” Now that Root’s paying a bit more attention she can hear a faint slur in Shaw’s voice, and it makes her grin. She curls her feet up under her, turning away from the screen so she’s not distracted. 

“You having fun?” She’s pretty interested in what’s made Shaw call her, since even drunk Shaw isn’t really the type for rambling, random phone conversations. 

“Yeah. But. Well, there’s this guy. And, like. I know we haven’t talked about it, other people, or anything...” She trails off, Root can hear her breathing, and the faint beat of bass in the background. It takes a second to parse through what Shaw has said and get to the point, or what she assumes is the point. A guy. That Shaw is calling Root about, at... quarter to midnight, from a club. 

Her knee jerk reaction is kind of jumbled, and definitely not pleasant. Shaw is right, they haven’t talked about this, about monogamy, or what the rules of their developing relationship are. And that was stupid, but still, calling in the middle of the night, from a club... hardly the best way to go about that conversation. Probably better than not having it at all, Root supposes. 

She pinches the bridge of her nose, trying to get her head in the game. On the other end of the line, Shaw sounds wary, “you still there?” 

“Yeah, I’m here. Give me a second.” Root slips out of her wheeled desk chair and starts prowling around the living room, just to have something to be doing. “You’re asking if you can fuck him?” She knows that she sounds a little harsh, hopes Shaw doesn’t hear that in her voice, but she can’t help it. 

“Uh. I guess. Yeah. Sorry.” Shaw has her blank voice on now, and Root hates that, it drives out the initial feeling of hurt and reminds her that she cares about Shaw, a lot, and that maybe this isn’t the best way Shaw could have approached the topic, but it’s not Shaw’s fault they haven’t dealt with it before. 

“It’s okay. It’s good you called. But shit, this is a bigger conversation than five minutes on the phone, Shaw.” She’s gripping on to her phone so tightly her knuckles are a little sore. 

“Yeah, I know. Fuck. I didn’t mean to...” She trails off, so Root doesn’t know what she didn’t mean to do. 

“Shaw, sweetie. It’s okay. You’re out, you’re having a good time, we haven’t set out a system, I get it. Okay. So...” She takes a deep breath, trying not to think about Shaw sliding down on some random guy’s dick. “How about... for tonight, yes, fine. Fuck him if you like, and then we’ll talk about how we wanna deal with this stuff when you’re sober, and I haven’t been coding for eleven hours straight?” 

“Are you sure?” Shaw sounds so uncomfortable Root wants to climb through the phone line and pin her up against a wall until she relaxes in that liquid way she has under Root’s hands. 

“Urgh, yeah. I’m not super keen on monogamy anyway, but we haven’t figured our stuff out yet, so that makes this sort of suck.” Root doesn’t do monogamy, or never has tried to, but she’s also never been with anyone the way that she’s being with Shaw, where it feels real, and serious, and Root so badly doesn’t want to fuck that up. 

“Really?” Shaw has this note, this fragile, naked little note in her voice like she can’t really believe that Root isn’t lying to her, and it makes Root’s heart clench in her chest.

“Really. But...I’m going to give you a few parameters that would make this better for me, okay? And you can follow them or not, that’s up to you, you’re not my property, you can make your own decisions. Nobody owns you, not even me. But it would.. make it easier for me.” Root’s head hurts, and she would so much rather this conversation never happened, would almost rather Shaw fucked this guy without asking and just told her about it later, but that’s not what’s happening, and Shaw is reaching out and _trying_ and Root doesn’t know that she would have had the guts to do that in her position, or if she would have just gone home and carried resentment around because of it. 

“Okay.” The bass rises in the background, like a door’s opened, and then Shaw comes through muffled, as though she has her hand over the mouthpiece. “Yeah, I’m fine. Gimme a minute.” 

Root wonders if it’s the guy, looking for her, or if it’s one of the girls. She wonders if Zoe and Joss know that Shaw is picking someone up, and what they would say, not that it actually matters. Navigating relationships is private and it might be uncomfortable sometimes, but Shaw is important enough to go through the stress of it, to figure out what works for them. 

She takes a breath, marshalling her thoughts. “Okay, this is just for now, for this time. Anything is renegotiable once we sit down and do the thing, but for tonight I would prefer if you didn’t take him home with you, you didn’t stay over the night at his either, and if he marks you up, know that I am going to want to obscure those marks with my own. Oh, and use a condom. For oral as well. That’s actually not negotiable, the condom.” She takes a deep breath, can practically hear Shaw’s gears turning. “Okay?”

There’s a long pause, Root feels a little sick to her stomach, and she picks up an empty water glass, pressing the cool material to her forehead. 

“Okay. I wouldn’t have stayed with him anyway. You’re the only... you’re the only person I’ve ever stayed with.” 

The knot inside Root uncurls a little, relieving some of the pressure of anxiety and stress. “I know, sweetie. How do you feel now?”

“A little sick, I guess. Not terrible.” Shaw mutters, caution painting her tone—she’s nervous that she’s saying the wrong thing, Root knows that voice. 

She closes her eyes, willing herself to find the right words, “I appreciate you talking to me before making a decision, Shaw.”

“S’Okay.” The awkward grumble is also very familiar. 

“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay, sweetie?”

“Yeah. Yeah that’d be good. Bye, Root.” 

“Bye, Shaw.” Root carefully unpeels the phone from her ear and presses the end call button with a hand that isn’t shaking, but is perhaps, slightly over deliberate. She leans against the kitchen counter, looking at the call information. Seven minutes. Seven minutes to negotiate something that should be given days, weeks, sometimes even months of discussion. But, Shaw’s not exactly the verbose type given to analysing and dissecting her emotions. Probably it hadn’t even crossed her mind until tonight, until it was on the table, and then she’d reached out for Root not knowing what was or wasn’t okay. 

Root genuinely believes that if she’d said no, Shaw would have respected that, and that’s something. But she also doesn’t want Shaw to feel tied down or trapped in a situation she’s not happy with. At the end of the day, really, relationships are about finding a way to be happier together than you are apart, and Root remembers vividly having Shaw explain to her how she doesn’t want to be in a relationship, how dating doesn’t work for her. 

And none of that means that Root doesn’t feel a little shaken and shitty. She grabs the red wine she’s been sipping at this evening and pours herself a new, much larger glass, padding back to her computer table and chewing on her lip in thought. 

She wonders how Shaw would feel if Root rang up one of her old lovers and went out for a quick fuck too, if that would hurt Shaw, or if she wouldn’t care either way. Root isn’t going to do that, she’s not the revenge fuck type, but she can’t help mulling it over as she sips on her drink and tries to lose herself in her complex coding project, but it’s difficult to concentrate. 

After fucking up the same section four times in a row, Root decides to call it a night on coding. She’s all wired and a little tipsy from making too much of a dent in her wine, so she decides to veg in front of a feel-good show for a while, try and take her mind to a less convoluted space. 

Even the sight of Angel on her Netflix queue gives her a little moment of discomfort, and she scrolls far down past it, eventually settling on Leverage, because who doesn’t love a modern day Robin Hood stealing from the poor and revenging on the rich. She picks a Christmas episode—a light dusting of snow had sprinkled everything on campus when she was walking home earlier, and with the fairy lights around her window twinkling at her, it seems appropriate even if it is only early December. 

She’s halfway through the second Christmas special, not making any progress towards being calm enough to sleep when her phone beeps.

SHAW @ ROOT // are u up? //

ROOT @ SHAW // yeah //

SHAW @ ROOT // Im outside your house //

ROOT @ SHAW // ... are you gonna buzz or just sit in the snow? //

The doorbell buzzes seconds after she hits send, and she licks her dry lips thoughtfully as she clicks Shaw in with her phone. She quickly pads to the apartment door and unlocks it, then heads for the living area, choosing to sit in the recliner instead of on the couch, where usually they sit together. Root feels like she would prefer a little bit of space right now, and she wishes she had either drunk more, or less wine. One of the above. 

The door eases open, and Shaw sort of pokes her head around, then shuffles in. There’s a thin layer of white on the shoulders of her warm looking coat, and it puffs into the air when she swings the garment off and hooks it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs, looking awkward as she mumbles, “hey.”

“Hey yourself.” Root fiddles with her wine glass while Shaw takes her shoes off much more slowly than she usually would, and Root can’t tell if it’s cause she’s drunk, or some other reason. “You okay?” 

“Yeah. Uh. I thought.. well. I felt,” she waves at her general stomach area without looking at Root, darting glances around the room from under her eyelashes with her shoulders hunched in, “sick, I guess. Zoe said I should come see you.” 

Root snorts a little, trust Zoe. She’s pretty sure her and Shaw would never have gotten past a one night (well, breakfast) stand without Zoe. “Did you...” fuck him, she fills in the rest in her head, watching Shaw looking small and miserable in the doorway.

“No. I was going to. I went back with him, and then I thought about you, and it... seemed more important to figure our shit out than get laid right now.” 

Root relaxes a little, holds out her hand for Shaw and Shaw morosely wanders over, resting her hip on the chair arm. “You tired, sweetie?” 

“Yeah.” Shaw shuffles her feet, “but I wanted to see you.” 

Root uses Shaw’s arm as a handhold and clambers to her feet, grabbing her phone and switching off the TV before padding towards the bedroom. “C’mon then. We can do relationship math in the morning.” She stiffens a little, realising what she’s said. Root has so far done an admirable job of never referring to what’s between them as dating, a relationship, or any other coupley word. 

Shaw’s hand ghosts along her back as she ducks into the bathroom to get ready for bed, and by the time she’s in her room Shaw’s already pulled on some of Root’s pajamas. 

Root gets into the bed while Shaw uses the bathroom, and then Shaw slides in next to her. 

Root jumps in surprise as Shaw sidles over, under the blankets, and drapes her arm over Root’s stomach. They’ve never cuddled when going to sleep except for right after sex, and Shaw always pulls away in the night, leaving just a little slice of contact between them, but now she’s practically climbing on Root, nosing into her neck and slinging her leg over Root’s hip.

“This okay?” Shaw murmurs into her shoulder and Root wraps her arm around Shaw’s back in response, pulling them closer together. 

Shaw’s breathing deepens almost immediately, but sleep doesn’t come easily to Root. She lies awake for a while, Shaw in her arms, mind still churning through how she feels about the whole thing, about Shaw sleeping with other people, but eventually the darkness drags her down.

***

They wake up still entangled, sheets mostly kicked off and Shaw’s open mouth depositing a little puddle of drool on Root’s chest, which she slurps at sleepily as she grumbles awake.

Root pokes her in the side, rolling over and sitting up straddling Shaw’s hips, pulling her damp shirt off and holding it out to one side of the bed before dropping it. “Well, you just ruined my shirt,” she teases.

“Want me to ruin your panties?” Shaw’s voice is thick with slumber but she rolls her hips under Root, making her overbalance and fall forward onto Shaw, giggling. 

“Mm, always,” Root agrees, sliding her leg between Shaw’s and wriggling down to push up her shirt and pepper kisses down her chest, breathing in the warm, sleepy feel of her lover’s skin. 

The sex is slow and cozy, hands down each other’s jammy shorts and breathing in little pants onto each other’s necks until Root stiffens in Shaw’s arms and the feel of her lover clenching on her fingers combined with Root’s sharp teeth digging into her neck send Shaw spiralling after her. 

They lie and share air for a while before Root rolls out of bed and grabs a clean tank top from a drawer. “Pancakes and coffee?” 

“Amazing.” Shaw sits up and stretches, pulling her tshirt back down and grinning at Root’s lascivious smirk. “After you’ve fed me, maybe.”

“We should talk, as well.” Root points out, hastily tying her hair back and padding out to the kitchen. 

Shaw slips out of bed and follows her, starting the coffee while Root grabs the stuff for pancakes. “Urgh.” 

“Yeah, I know, but we kind of have to, if we want to be sleeping with other people. And, let’s face it, we’re both total babes, so it’s not like we’re never going to be propositioned.” She tries to keep her tone light, not wanting Shaw to close down as she sometimes does when conversations take a turn for the serious. To give herself some time, Root cracks the eggs into the blender and adds milk by eye while Shaw grabs mugs and puts sugar in Root’s red cup, leaving her own without and avoiding looking at Root. 

Eventually Root feels like she’s gathered her thoughts enough to start talking, and starting with what Shaw had laid out early on seems like as good a place as any to begin.“So.. when we first started hooking up, you told me you didn’t want a girlfriend. But,” Root gestures between them, “this is a bit more than casual, right? It is for me.”

“Mm.” Shaw folds herself into a stool and crosses her arms defensively. “I know. We spend a lot of time together. And it’s good. I like it.” 

“Have you ever... spent time like this with someone before me?” Root asks carefully, focussing on the contents of the blender and then pressing the power button, roaring sound filling the kitchen and giving Shaw time to think about her answer before the noise fades away. If Shaw’s done this before then maybe they can find a balance between what’s worked for them both in the past.

“Kind of. Once. In first year. It, uh. It ended badly. I cheated.” Root glances back and sees Shaw’s fingers are tight around her empty mug. Shaw abruptly gets up as the coffee maker stops bubbling, clearly using the activity to cover her tension. 

“Do you... have you ever thought about why you cheated?” Root turns back to the oven, busying herself heating up a pan and pouring the first pancake into it, and then hunts in the freezer for bacon. She’s noticed on multiple occasions that Shaw does better at talking if it’s not the only thing that’s happening.

Shaw doesn’t answer for a while, she pours the coffee and slides Root’s mug on to the counter next to her before organising dishes for their food. “I got... itchy. He wanted me so much, but what I had for him wasn’t good enough...” She trails off, but Root stays silent, waiting for her to finish and eventually she shrugs and continues, “it felt like I was losing who I am to try and make him happy, and I still wasn’t who he wanted me to be. So I went out and I fucked someone else every time I felt like that, because fucking makes me feel good, and then he found out, and... yeah. That was very much the end of that.” 

“So... you’re worried that you’re going to get itchy with me?” The batter sizzles, and Root picks up her coffee, still not facing the kitchen. She tries to hide the tension in her shoulders while she waits for an answer. 

“Maybe. I don’t know.” Shaw mumbles, turning the taps on and rinsing Root’s dishes from the previous night. 

“Well... I don’t... I never really got the arbitrary lines people draw around what someone else can share with other people and what’s just for their partner. I mean, I guess I think that if you want something and you’re not allowed it, then that’s bound to fuck everything up eventually. People aren’t property. Jealousy isn’t fun, but it’s also not...right. I don’t think it’s right to confine people just to make yourself more comfortable.” 

She takes a breath, ladles the cooked pancaked onto a plate and sets up a new one. “I often feel like people are just huge hypocrites, you know, like everyone would be happier if _they_ could do whatever they wanted, without the other person getting that same freedom. You know the statistics on people cheating? It’s insane, and no one ever thinks they’re gonna get caught, but then they’re just lying about everything, and so how could that ever be okay? I don’t want us to lie to each other. Especially not about important stuff. I’ve only ever had open relationships. But I’ve also never been with anyone who likes men, as well. So... what’s worked for me before isn’t necessarily going to work now. The things I set down for you last night, how did you feel about them?” 

Root turns the heat down on the bacon and takes a mouthful of coffee, leaning her hip on the counter. The things she’d asked of Shaw the night before were pretty much directly lifted from her last relationship, and while she isn’t certain that the same rules are going to be the right fit for them, she knows she’d be infinitely more comfortable with a sexually open relationship than an emotionally open relationship, and she thinks that’s probably what Shaw wants as well, if the other girl is willing to admit they’re in something emotional in the first place. But it’s a place to start, at least. 

“Everything you said was stuff that would have or wouldn’t have happened anyway, so fine, I guess. Like, nothing you asked me not to do was something I wanted to do.” Shaw scrubs furiously at a plate, her ears pink. 

“So you’d be comfortable with those staying in place, at least for now? Condoms, no sleepovers. My marks not theirs?” Root is practically holding her breath as she asks.

“Yeah, I guess. As long as ... as long as the pain stuff is about us, not about the other person. I don’t want to be... punished. But I’ve never had a guy hurt me, anyway, if that makes a difference. I’ve only done that with women. What do you mean about never being with anyone who likes men, what’s that got to do with it?” Shaw sounds a little defensive, and Root almost reaches out for her, but sees the tightness in her body, the way she’s hunched in over the sink and drops her hand. 

“Well,” Root pushes for a lighter tone and a little of the rigidity eases out of Shaw’s grip as she puts another plate in the drying rack, “if you wanna take another girl home, I’d maybe be into coming too, or you could tell me about it afterward if you think that’d be hot. Less so with a dude. I mean, intellectually I have no problems with you sleeping with men, but it doesn’t... excite me.” 

“I guess that makes sense. Threesomes are on the table, then?” Shaw slants her eyes sideways to peek at Root’s face.

“Yeah, if we’re both in the right place at the right time, I’m definitely okay with threesomes.” Root drips the last of the batter into the pan and picks up her coffee.

“Huh. Cool. And I can fuck girls and that will get you hot, thinking about it?” Shaw has a little, almost inaudible smirk in her voice. 

“I think so. I mean, no guarantees, but in theory that works for me. We’ll probably have to talk about it again. Maybe recalibrate.” Root deftly dishes up a platter of pancakes heaped in bacon for Shaw and a much smaller, baconless plate for herself, then rummages in the fridge for lemon, sugar and maple syrup, feeling like she’s on safer ground. 

Shaw turns the tap off and slides into her stool, dousing her plate in syrup while Root lightly sprinkles sugar on to her pancake and then carefully adds lemon juice. 

Shaw gives her the same look she does every time Root eats pancakes like this, a sort of ‘what the hell is wrong with you and why is it so cute?’, semi-confused look that makes Root’s chest feel warmed from the inside. 

“And if I sleep with other girls, that’s cool with you?” Root queries, knocking their knees together under the table. 

Shaw narrows her eyes for a moment, taking a mouthful of food before replying. “Can I say ‘I think so’ as well? Cause... I don’t actually know. The idea of Tomas fucking around never mattered to me. But I like you more.” 

“Yeah, sweetie. You can say ‘I think so’. And we can talk about it again, whenever. If something doesn’t feel right, we can figure it out. And maybe... we can leave a ‘veto’ or two on the table. Like, if we’re fighting, or something. If we know it’s gonna make us feel shitty, we can veto the other person sleeping around until we’ve talked about it?” 

“Yeah. Okay. That works.” Shaw mumbles through a huge piece of bacon, and Root turns in her stool to watch her. 

“So we’re okay?” 

“I guess...” Shaw forces the words through cheeks bulging out like a hamster, her lips sticky with syrup. 

Disregarding Shaw's pancake-stuffed face, Root leans in to kiss her. Shaw, swallowing heavily, is only partially successful at avoiding the gesture. “I think you have a food fetish,” she grumbles. 

“I have a Shaw fetish. I told you early on... I like watching you eat.” Root grins, squeezing Shaw’s bare thigh under the table. “Can I interest you in a celebratory fuck now that we’ve successfully navigated a super uncomfortable conversation like we’re actually adults or something?” 

Shaw rapidly clears her plate, then slides off her chair, pulling her shirt over her head as she heads for the bedroom. “Hell yes.”


	5. Two Points Where Three Lines Meet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root and Shaw pick Kelli up in a bar. They have a lot of sex. A lot. Nothing else happens. Total plot what plot situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No redeeming features. Do not read if you don't want smut.
> 
> This is so filthy I feel a bit guilty for having written it. It started out as me wanting to explore Shoot's dynamics a bit further, and then turned into a porn apocalypse.
> 
>  **content warning**  
>  Threeway, no protection, this is not safe sex, bdsm, domination, voice kink, sharing a sub, handcuffs, gag, strapons, anal, cunnilingus, anilingus, anal strapon fucking, squirting, double penetration, I’m so sorry, all the things
> 
> Title from Alt-J, Tessellate, but bastardized because... DP.

“Shaw, sweetie.” Root slides her hand into Shaw’s loose hair, scratching her neck lightly, and Shaw presses into the touch for a moment.

“Yeah?” Her top lip is still shining with her last sip of whiskey, and Root can’t resist leaning in to lick it off before sitting back and replying.

“You see that girl at the bar? Red dress. Of Asian origin, long curly hair. Hot.” Root rests her arm on the red leather couch behind Shaw’s back, not touching anymore, just there. Near. She’s close enough that she can feel the heat of Shaw’s skin. The club is dark and steamy, bass pounds in her blood, thumping along with her heartbeat. 

Shaw glances over, drags her eyes across the people loitering at the bar and nods, looking back at Root. “I see her.”

“She’s been watching us for a little while,” Root hums, her knee pressed against Shaw’s under the table. On the dance floor, Zoe spins Joss around so violently they almost tumble over, and Root can’t help snorting. 

“Do you know her?” Shaw trails her fingers over the hem of Root’s dress idly for a moment, and Root doesn’t try to mask her slight intake of breath.

“Nope, but I think she’d like to get to know us...”

Shaw shifts to look at Root, raising a sharp eyebrow, and Root smirks as Shaw realises what she’s implying. “Huh. You wanna?” She sounds intrigued.

Root opens her legs under the table, Shaw automatically running her hand over the newly exposed skin, “she’s hot. Do you wanna? She’s watching you touch me. Look.” 

Shaw glances over, and sure enough the babe at the bar is zeroed in on her hand on Root’s leg, even though it must be almost too dark to see what’s happening. Shaw cocks her head, thinks for a moment and runs her fingers over Root’s inner thigh in a swooping pattern that leaves tingles in its wake. 

“Sure, sounds like fun. How should we...?” Shaw pauses, darting her eyes around for a moment and then finally looking at Root. “Do you want... I mean will I... Uh,” Shaw clearly cycles through a few phrasing options before settling, and Root waits, sliding her thumb over Shaw’s collarbone soothingly, patient and ready to hear whatever Shaw has to say. If Shaw doesn’t want to pick someone up, that’s fine with her, but from the few times it’s come up it seemed like they were both very on board. 

Shaw swallows, dark eyes tinged with arousal and a light flush on her neck that may or may not be the club lights. “Do you want to top me? In front of her?” 

Root blinks, taken aback, and then picks up her cocktail, trailing her fingers over the sweating glass, “only if that’s what you want, sweetie. We fuck the way we fuck because it gets both of us hot, but if you wanna keep that just for us, of course that’s entirely okay. We’re equal... You being submissive is about you giving that up to me, trusting me, not me taking anything away from you.” Root hadn’t even thought about it, to be honest. The power dynamics in their relationship came pretty easily, seemed natural between them right from the very first time they fucked and she felt how Shaw responded to even mild commands. While they’ve touched on the idea of bringing someone else into the equation for a bit of added excitement, not that they struggle in that department, they haven’t discussed how their dynamics might open up for another person.

Shaw’s mouth works for a moment, and she busies herself taking a gulp of whisky, before glancing at Root through her eyelashes and then looking away, “and if I do want that?”

“Well,” Root presses her foot against Shaw’s foot, a non-invasive but affectionate gesture that Shaw seeks out sometimes when she’s feeling unsure, which from her voice is true now, “we don’t even know if she wants to sleep with us, although it sure looks like she does. But I’m sure I can hammer out some ground rules with her. What would get you off, with another person? Just me in charge of you, or me in charge of both of you, or both of us telling you what to do?” 

Shaw thinks for a minute, toying with her glass. “Both... That sounds really fucking hot. And I know you’ll take care of me. It'd be fine if you were in charge of her as well, though, if that's what she's into. And if she’s not up for topping or bottoming then maybe you could... run me and we’ll just fit her in.” 

The tips of Shaw’s ears are pink, and she’s avoiding eye-contact like a pro. 

Root leans in and kisses her neck, tasting the salt of hours of dancing. Shaw tenses and then softens under her mouth, and Root finishes with a sharp nip. “Sounds good to me. And if you don’t wanna safeword in front of her, you can always tap out, like this,” she picks up Shaw’s hand, triple taps with two fingers on her wrist, and grins at her. “I’m gonna go chat to her, see if she’s interested.” 

She waits for a second to see if Shaw has anything else to say and then eases out of the table and makes her way over to the bar. She glances back briefly and sees Shaw threading through the heaving crowd of bodies on the dance floor. They make eye contact and Root winks at her, making Shaw roll her eyes, and then Root crosses the last few feet of space in front of the bar, dodging around a few people and leaning up next to the woman they’ve been talking about. The bar is cool and slightly sticky under her elbow.

“Hi,” Root gives her her most charming grin, her body open and angled towards the beautiful woman, who eyes her with not-so-subtle interest for a second, and then the bartender leans over the bar to ask Root what she’s having.

Root points at the girl’s drink, a glass of pink champagne, by the looks of things, and holds up two fingers. The guy nods and turns around. 

“Hello,” the woman leans in a bit, tapping her fingers on the glass stem. “Are you buying me a drink or just copying my order?” Her red dress is low-cut, and Root admires the smooth expanse of her chest for a moment before lifting her eyes and replying. 

“Buying you a drink,” Root slides the item in question over when the bartender reappears, and hands him a few bills without breaking their eye contact. “I’m Root.” 

“Interesting name. I’m Kelli.” She has an unusual accent, faintly British maybe, but smeared with traces of a variety of countries, hard to place.

Root turns, propping both her elbows on the bar, looking out onto the dance floor and spotting Shaw gyrating between Joss and Zoe. “That’s Shaw.” She lifts her chin to gesture at her, knowing that Kelli is fully aware of who she’s talking about since she’s been watching them for the last half hour. “We’d like to take you home with us for some kinky sex.” She slants her eyes at Kelli, lifts her champagne and takes a little sip, lips pursed. The bubbles sting her throat pleasantly. “Interested?” 

Kelli almost, almost chokes on a mouthful of liquid, Root hears the little hitch of a challenging swallow and can’t hide the smirk playing around her lips. 

“You’re extremely forward...”

“Can’t get if you don’t ask. Plus, you’ve been eye-fucking us for a little while, so I figured I may as well get to the point.” 

Kelli tosses the rest of her first drink back and picks up the one Root bought, taking a long swallow of that as well. Root licks her lips as she watches her throat work. She really is very attractive, and Root can almost picture how she’ll look hovering over Shaw, their wild, dark hair getting tangled as they grind on each other. It sends a flush of heat through her. 

She lets her arousal show in her face, not trying to hide it, and Kelli looks at her, looks at Shaw dancing (and God, Shaw is a good dancer) and shrugs a shoulder. “Yeah, okay. Why the hell not. When you say kinky... How does that work?” 

“Well, Kelli,” Root eases closer, Shaw is watching them now, she can feel her eyes on her and she glances over to check in, her forearm brushing against Kelli’s. 

Shaw’s watching her with that intense glower she has sometimes, all dark eyes and heat. Root can see the sharp angle of her clenched jaw, the flush of heat staining her chest and neck. She’d bet Shaw’s nipples are in tight little points and her fingers twitch with the urge to roll them painfully hard until Shaw groans in acquiescence. “Shaw likes to be told what to do. If that makes you uncomfortable, no worries. She can listen to me, or I can take control of both of you if you’re into that. Or whatever in between that works for you.” She grins, “but honestly, we’re fucking amazing in bed and we’d love to take you for whatever kind of spin gets you off. Between us we cover nearly all of the bases. What floats your boat?” 

Kelli bites her lip, Root’s eyes flicking down to it. Her body is angled towards Root now, subtly shifted during the conversation, and Root can see in her face that she’s very interested. A little wary, but definitely interested. 

Before she can respond though, Shaw presses up against Root’s side, her body hot and a little sticky from dancing. “Hey, sweetie,” Root greets her without looking away from Kelli, but slides her hand around Shaw’s waist, nipping the skin of her flank between her fingernails and making Shaw flinch slightly and press into her hand. 

Kelli eyes them for a moment, looking back and forth between the two of them. Root grins at her and leans down to kiss Shaw, dragging her up against her body and Shaw lets out a noise that’s audible even over the pounding music as their mouths meet. 

The kiss is one of those sliding, sexual ones that has everything to do with pressing yourselves together as much as possible and feeling the hot, wet softness of each other’s mouths right through to the core of you. When they part, Shaw practically slides down Root’s thigh, almost losing her balance, and both of them are breathing heavily. 

Root’s nipples are hard, and she knows it shows through the thin dress and underwear combo she’s wearing. She arches her back a little to make sure that Kelli notices.

Kelli sets her now empty glass down with a clunk on the bar, “yeah, okay. I’m sold, that was super fucking hot. Let’s do it. We’ll figure out what works as we go.” 

Shaw grabs a handful of Root’s ass as she turns around, and they stumble out into the cold. A taxi pulls up for them almost immediately, and Shaw gets in the front, leaving Root and Kelli to get in the back seat together. 

Root can feel Shaw’s hot eyes on her in the mirror as she worms one hand around the front seat to fondle Shaw’s neck from the back and uses the other to tug Kelli into the middle seat, so they’re sat pressed together. 

They click their seatbelts on in a flurry of not-strictly-necessary touching and Root revels in the first-time excitement, the tingle of not quite knowing how the other person will react, what sounds they might make or how their body will move. 

Shaw’s skin is overly warm under her palm, and she scratches lightly with her nails. Kelli’s thigh presses against hers so she shifts a little, pushing back, and the cab ride is over almost before it begins.

They pile out, Shaw shoving money through the window haphazardly and leaving the driver grumbling before she backs against the wall, gently tugging Kelli’s hand so she follows. Root’s breath hitches at the sight of them, Shaw pressed back against the cold bricks as Kelli follows her with her body, leaning down and capturing her mouth in a heated kiss. 

Root can see the puff of their breath escaping and mingling, the streetlight casting an orange corona around them all. 

Kelli’s a little awkward in the kiss, but manages to get her arm braced against the wall, scraping the other hand down Shaw’s thigh and lifting it so she can wedge herself between Shaw’s legs. Root feels her stomach twist in arousal. 

She fumbles for her keys, finally hauling them out and shoving the fob against the reader before yanking the door open. “Upstairs, now!” Her voice is heavy and full of sex, and Shaw peels away immediately, though Kelli chases her with her mouth for a moment before stepping back, chest heaving and cheeks pink. 

Root holds the door for them both, shoving her keys at Shaw who runs up the stairs, Kelli following at a more sedate pace. Root catches up with her and takes the opportunity to push her gently against a wall on the landing. Kelli is taller than Shaw, but still shorter than Root, and she has to lean down a little to capture her lips. 

It’s different from kissing Shaw, but the feel of her soft, full lips pliantly opening for Root’s tongue and the arch of her hips against Root’s thigh send frissons of pleasure tingling down Root’s spine. She smells good, like something sweet and spicy all at once, it reminds Root of apple cider.

They break the kiss when Shaw’s impatient voice bursts through the sound of their elevated breathing. “Unless this is gonna be an exhibitionist sort of threesome, you should get in here.” 

Root pulls back, pleased with the look of unfocused arousal on Kelli’s face, and she grabs her hand to drag her up the stairs to her apartment. 

They kick their heels off as soon as they’re through the door, and Shaw slams and locks it behind them. 

For a moment the sheer logistics distract Root as her always racing brain speeds through different scenarios, different layouts, and then she’s thoroughly brought back to the moment by Shaw starting to yank her black top off over her head, pausing, and slowly pulling it back down, looking at Root. “Can I?” 

The deliberate submission hits Root in the groin like a tanker, clicking her arousal up to eleven, she feels herself soaking her already-a-little-damp panties, taking in a sharp breath. 

She glances at Kelli, who looks from one to the other of them and then makes a hand gesture, smile combo that seems to say something like ‘do whatever the fuck you want I don’t even care as long as everyone’s having fun’ and Root grins, slow and predatory. “Yeah, Shaw. Why don’t you take all your clothes off real quick and take a knee in the living room.” It’s not a question. Shaw shivers visibly, and obediently starts undressing, flicking glances to Root and Kelli the whole time.

Root sidles over to Kelli, wraps a hand around her waist and tugs her in for a quick kiss, making promises with her mouth that she fully intends to keep, sliding her tongue gently across the seam of her lips and then sucking rhythmically on the soft flesh over her bottom lip as she cradles Kelli’s head, hair tangled warm around her fingers. 

Kelli relaxes into the kiss after a moment, and Root can feel the submission in her, the willingness to let Root lead, if not to the same level as Shaw who gives it up like she was born to. Shaw gets off on instructions, on giving up all control, where Kelli kisses like she’s used to being on equal footing but maybe is intrigued by the possibilities of the evening. 

After a long moment, liquid heat pooled in her groin, Root pulls back and glances into the main room. Shaw’s on her knees, as instructed, her clothes in a neat, folded pile next to her, and her hands palm down on her thighs.

“This okay?” Root murmurs to Kelli as she steps back and finally unzips her jacket, dropping it disinterestedly into a heap on the tiled kitchen floor. She grabs her phone and clicks on the Sonos system, the opening notes of Tessellate filling the room. Perfect song for a threesome, she thinks with a slight smirk as the bass throbs through her.

“A little weird, but yeah. Hot.” Kelli breathes out, following suit and shrugging her coat off. “I’ve never...” she gestures back and forth between Shaw and Root, clearly referencing the power play. 

Root nods, leans in and kisses her cheek before heading for the living room with soft steps and turning her back to Shaw, “unzip me,” she demands, eyes on Kelli, “let us know if you get uncomfortable. We have things pretty sorted between us, but I’ll check in with you. Do you like strap ons? Have you ever fucked anyone with a strap on? Shaw loves getting fucked.” She delights in feeling Shaw’s fingers jump in surprise on her zipper as her dress is carefully unfastened. It slides off her shoulders in a liquid roll of silky fabric.

“Yeah, a couple of times. I like it.” Kelli’s eyes dance between Root’s newly exposed, lacey underwear-clad body, and Shaw’s totally naked, kneeling form, like she has no idea which one she’d like to look at more and then follows Root’s path into the living room with slow, deliberate steps. 

Root holds her hand out for Kelli, who steps forward to take it, and then Root turns around so she’s facing Shaw, kicking her crumpled dress away and pulling Kelli in so her front is pressed against Root’s back. As she’d hoped, Kelli takes the initiative and runs her hands over Root’s torso. 

“Wanna take off my bra for me, Kelli? Shaw, panties. No hands.” Root changes her tone in the middle, using the voice that Shaw responds to best. Her undisguised gasp of reaction sends an agreeable tremor through Root, which Kelli absorbs with her palms, running them around to unclip Root’s bra. 

Shaw struggles to get Root’s tiny panties between her lips without catching skin between her teeth, but eventually she manages. She drags them down, lace scraping over smooth legs until Root can step out of them, leaving her naked as Kelli drops Root’s bra to the floor in favour of cupping her small breasts with a little shimmery sigh of excitement. 

Root’s arousal is a potent, beating drum, her blood fizzing in anticipation. The feel of Kelli’s palms dragging over her aching nipples combined with the sight of Shaw on her knees, waiting, lust softening her features is almost too much. 

She leans her head back onto Kelli’s shoulder with a sigh, reaching down and winding her hand into Shaw’s hair, yanking her forwards until Shaw’s nose is pressed into her pubic hair, making her bite her lip and roll her hips. “Any objection to me getting off like this real quick?”

She can hear the grin in Kelli’s voice as the other girl presses closer, the fabric of her dress scraping against Root’s sensitive skin. “None at all.” She pinches Root’s nipples lightly and Root arches her back, humming deep in her throat and tightening her hand in Shaw’s hair, grinding her groin into her face. 

Shaw gets the hint, inching forwards and ducking, nudging Root’s legs apart with her nose and sliding her hands up Root’s thighs in question, “yeah, sweetie, you can use your hands. I’m gonna be quick,” although the position they’re in is great, this is mostly just about clearing Root’s head a little so she can think properly, her raging body distracting her too much. 

The first touch of Shaw’s tongue, flat and firm as she works it between her pussy lips, sends shudders rolling through Root’s body, and she leans back more against Kelli, silently asking the other girl to hold her up a bit. She curls her free hand over her shoulder, cupping the back of Kelli’s head and holding her close. 

She can feel Shaw wetting her fingers even while working on her with her tongue, the damp slide of skin and spit mixing with her arousal as Shaw spreads her open, teasing her entrance for a moment with her tongue before pushing a finger into her, making Root’s legs tremble a little. 

Kelli clearly decides she wants to be part of Root’s impending orgasm, working on her nipples with serious focus, figuring out that Root likes to have them rolled and pinched. She presses her mouth to Root’s shoulder, kisses up her neck just as Shaw slides another finger in, making Root groan loudly. Lightning sparks from her nipples down to her groin, pooling raw heat in her stomach and she tightens her hand in Shaw’s hair in response. 

Kelli sucks on her pulse point and grinds against Root’s ass, Shaw moves up a bit and pulls Root’s clit into her mouth, and Root comes in a short, sharp burst of white pleasure that leaves her gasping for air as she drags Shaw’s mouth away from her. 

Shaw’s lips and chin are shiny with come, and Root pulls her to her feet by her hair, yanking her in for a brief, violent kiss that cleans her off a little before wriggling out of the press of bodies, flushed and quaking. “Shaw, Kelli is very overdressed. Why don’t you help her with that?” Root can hear the thick strain of desire in her voice and it makes her mouth twitch. 

She pads to the liquor shelf on only slightly shaky legs, picking up a bottle of bourbon and pouring a small measure into a glass and taking a sip, swilling it around her mouth as she watches Shaw and Kelli together. 

Kelli looks a little unsure, but Shaw traces her hands over her dress, stepping behind her and pulling the zipper down in a long, smooth movement that makes Kelli’s eyelids flutter. She steps out of her dress, and Root hums in appreciation. 

The girl is smoothly muscled, very athletic looking. Leaner than Shaw, but both of them dangerously fit in a way that makes Root want to watch them struggle against each other. Maybe another time, she thinks, noting the edge of uncertainty in Kelli’s movements as she reaches for Shaw.

“It’s okay, you can touch her.” Root steps back over, abandoning her glass, seeing the dynamic shift without her direct involvement to both of the others not really knowing what to do. “Why don’t we move this party to the bedroom?” 

She stops to scrape her nails hard down Shaw’s back, delighting in the shudder it wrings out of her. With her other hand she unclips Kelli’s bra smoothly. 

Kelli grins, sliding her bra down her arms to join the heap of clothes on the floor, and reaching for Shaw, rubbing her thumb down Shaw’s jaw while she pulls her in for a kiss, apparently not overly concerned about sharing fluids. Good to know. 

“You taste good,” she murmurs after breaking off, looking at Root, and Root smirks, padding towards the bedroom.

“I eat a lot of fruit. Shaw, go pee and then pick a dick for me to fuck you with while you get Kelli off. And then, maybe if you’re really good we’ll both peg you at the same time. Would you like that?” 

Shaw hastens after Root, ducking into the bathroom while Root clicks the speakers on in her room and lies down on her back, deliberately displaying her body. Kelli halts in the doorway for a moment, and Root beckons her over, so she crawls onto the bed next to Root, still in her panties.

Root trails a finger across her waistband, making her hips twitch just a little, “we both got checked last month, and we're all negative, haven't been with anyone extra since. Have you been tested recently?” 

Kelli shifts under her hand, lifting off the bed a little and licking her lips, “yeah, two weeks ago. I’m good.”

“Awesome,” Root knows, peripherally, that she could be lying, and would be the first to admit her judgement isn’t at it’s finest right now, but Kelli is so fucking hot, and she wants to see Shaw fuck her so badly... She makes a mental note they need to go to the clinic tomorrow, and then leans over for a kiss.

They press against each other for a moment, tongues sliding before Root pulls back, hearing Shaw come in and pull the sex box out from under the bed . “How do you want to come, Kelli? In her mouth, on her fingers, both?” She’s listening for it, and is rewarded by the little sound that Shaw tries to swallow, clearly totally into Root offering her up like candy. Root smirks in pleasure and looks up at Kelli, wetting her lips. “Dealer’s choice.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re the dealer,” Kelli murmurs, sliding a hand down Root’s back, “both sounds good.”

“Feel free to take over for a round,” Root grins, leaning over and sucking Kelli’s nipple into her mouth. She stays there for a long moment, revelling in the way Kelli’s back arches up to push into her mouth, and she works her hand into Kelli’s underwear finding her slick and swollen and... pierced? 

She explores with her fingers, feeling the hardness of a metal bar under Kelli’s hood, rubbing it gently. “Mmm, Shaw’s going to like this,” she says throatily, while Kelli writhes on the bed, a low groan escaping her mouth, fingers digging into the sheets.

Root pulls her hand out and hops off the bed, finding Shaw holding a harness tightly with both hands, her chest rising and falling rapidly as she gazes at the two of them, lips parted and face blurred with arousal. “That for me?” 

Kelli wriggles out of her panties on the bed and watches with interest as Shaw nods, dropping to her knees and helping Root step into the harness with the ease of practise. 

Root can’t help but remember the first time she did this, and she rolls her shoulder in recollection. 

Shaw sees, narrows her eyes and straightens up, smoothing her thumb across Root’s scar and leaning up for a kiss. “Back in the room, Groves,” she murmurs into her mouth, and Root finds her balance again, pushing the memories back. 

“On the bed, Sameen. Go say hey to our guest.” Root softens the command with a lopsided grin, intended to reassure her, and Shaw watches her for a long second before dropping her eyes submissively and slipping onto the bed, crawling up Kelli’s body with smooth, slow movements. 

Root swallows as she watches, her mouth suddenly dry as all the moisture in her body heads south.

Kelli takes a shuddery inhale and looks up at Root, Root gives her an encouraging nod and Kelli reaches down Shaw’s body, pulls her legs up a little so Shaw is straddling her hips and sits up using remarkably defined stomach muscles, bringing their mouths together. 

Shaw wriggles closer, and to Root’s surprise and delight, Kelli grabs her hands in a fairly dominant way, holding them down at Shaw’s sides while they kiss, hips pushing against each other. 

Shaw fights the hold a little, but not hard enough to make anyone feel like she’s actually trying to escape, and Kelli breaks the kiss, using her grip and physical strength to keep Shaw still with her hands pinned as she looks at Root. 

She raises an eyebrow, and Root grins. “Yeah. That’s hot.” She can tell by Shaw’s body that she’s excited by the change in circumstance, and she quickly grabs lube and slicks her cock before kneeling on the bed and pressing up against Shaw’s back, sliding her hands down to join Kelli’s in restraining her. 

Kelli’s hands are firm and tight on Shaw’s wrists, almost enough to cut off the blood supply, but not quite. 

Shaw squirms between them, clearly not sure whether to press into the jab of Root’s dick pushing against her ass cheek, or to strain towards Kelli in front. “You want something, sweetie?” Root purrs, biting Shaw’s shoulder to punctuate the question, making her tense and let out a little whine. 

Kelli grins, flexing her impressive arm muscles, Root almost wants to ask what sports she partakes in, because Root could never give Shaw this level of physical restraint, relying on Shaw’s wish to submit and be told what to do, but the little fight is turning Shaw on, there’s no doubt about it, every line of her body shows her arousal. It’s doing very nice things for Root as well.

Shaw unwillingly bends back under Kelli’s hands, Kelli keeps darting her eyes to Root as though to check it’s okay, and Root licks her lips, letting go of Shaw’s wrists and sliding one hand down to Shaw’s groin and one up to her throat. 

Shaw bucks against the touches and Root slips two fingers between Shaw’s soaking folds, penetrating her just enough to make her groan and push forward before Root pulls back, holding up her hand to show Kelli her glistening fingers and demonstrating that yes, Shaw is very much enjoying the proceedings. 

To her complete surprise, Kelli leans in, sucking Root’s fingers into her mouth and cleaning the taste of Shaw off her digits with enough enthusiasm to make Root’s eyes roll back in her head at the feel of her clever tongue. She swallows heavily, it’s definitely time to get this show on the road.

“Kelli, how many times do you want to come before we let Shaw get off? Once, twice? Three times... Four?” She smirks, letting Shaw hear it in her voice, feeling the tension thrumming through the smaller woman’s body and squeezing her neck in response, rubbing her thumb over Shaw’s pulse point while sliding her fingers out of Kelli’s hot mouth, dragging the pads over her tongue with a hum of pleasure as the sensation trickles right down to her centre.

“Twice.” Kelli decides, licking her lips and not sounding super sure of herself, but it works, and Root grins happily, releasing her grip on Shaw’s throat for a two count and then squeezing tighter for ten. 

When she lets go again Shaw sags just a little, leaning back against Root’s body until the dizziness passes. “You wanna sit on her face, or stand, or lie down?” She’s trying to actively involve Kelli in the decision making, and exclude Shaw from it, because she’s well aware of the way Shaw is reacting to the act of them discussing her like she’s Root’s to share around. It’s a good reaction. 

She presses the flat of her hand to Shaw’s breastbone while Kelli thinks about it, still holding onto Shaw’s wrists with firm fingers. Her biceps are bulging with the force she’s exerting on Shaw, and Root doesn’t know who to look at more, it’s like a fucking armporn apocalypse. She wishes she had a camera. It’s all tan skin, long dark hair and curved muscles up in here.

Shaw’s hands are in fists, and Root teases at one of them gently, a silent command to relax. Shaw obeys, tension draining out of her arms in increments. Root moves her hand up to squeeze her throat again as a reward, shifting closer so Shaw can lean her head back against her collarbone. It’s an awkward angle, but it works, and has the added bonus of forcing Root’s dick between Shaw’s spread thighs, making her whimper and twist in their grip. 

“I’m gonna lie down. I wanna watch you fuck her while she eats me.” Kelli sounds like she doesn’t quite believe the situation she has found herself in, but is jumping in with both feet while she can. “I’m gonna let go. Stay still, Shaw.” Kelli releases her grip, finger by finger and Shaw tenses her whole body in response. Seeing Kelli adjusting to get comfortable with telling Shaw what to do is one of the hottest things Root has ever seen.

Root watches the muscles jump and skip in Shaw’s jaw with fascination, but she stays exactly still, holding herself in place now that the pressure of Kelli’s hands is gone, no longer forcing her to hold the uncomfortable lean she’s been manhandled into. 

After biting Shaw’s nape one more time, Root scoots back, repositioning herself at the end of the bed, between Kelli’s feet. Her nails are painted the same shade of red as her dress, she notices. “You heard her, Shaw. And you don’t come until she’s come twice. Or I’ll tie you up with a vibrator inside you and leave you on the floor all night.” She adds the last part with a smirk in her voice.

Shaw stays exactly where she was put, her muscles clearly feeling the strain, and Root rubs her hand over her cock at the sight, pushing the base against her clit with a sigh, “whenever you’re ready, Kelli.”

Kelli leans back, splaying herself out on the bed and pulling her legs from between Shaw’s really, really slowly, showing off her muscles in a wanton display. She wriggles down a little, framing Shaw’s thighs with her long legs, and running her hand down her own body. “What if I want to see how long she can stay like that?” 

Shaw is almost at a forty five degree angle, her leg muscles and stomach holding her body weight, Root no longer close enough to support her head, nothing to rest her core on, hands loose at her sides. 

At Kelli’s words she takes a deep breath, and Root can almost see her sinking into the space that will let her hold that position though the burn of protesting muscles until they eventually give up and drop her on the bed. Root reckons fifteen minutes, give or take. “I could get a timer,” her eyelids flutter as she jacks her dick, enjoying the pressure against her hyper-sensitive flesh.

Kelli drags it out for a little longer, watching Shaw with hooded eyes and trailing her fingers lightly across her own centre, toying with the silver ball Root can see at the top of her clit shaft. It is really, really fucking hot, and Root can’t wait to hear the noises she makes when Shaw pulls it into her mouth, she’s relieved when Kelli licks her lips and says, “maybe later. Come here Shaw.” She sounds more certain now, and shifts her hips up on the bed dragging her fingers over her clit one last time, lifting her hood far enough that Root sees the flash of silver under it, and taking in a deep breath. 

Shaw straightens slowly, clearly feeling the ache of being in a difficult pose for too long, Root can see the faint tremor in her legs as she uses them to pull herself forward, shifting so her ass is in the air for Root and propping herself on her elbows before pressing her mouth to Kelli.

Root mostly watches Kelli’s face, her lips part and eyelids flutter when Shaw makes contact, Root can hear the wet sound of Shaw’s tongue and the little whimper she always gives when she sinks face first into a pussy. Root fucking loves that sound, it makes her clench, apparently even when it’s not her pussy. There’s a delightful little clack of metal on teeth and Kelli moans wantonly. 

Shaw’s back is all curved and smooth, little divots of shadow marking her spine and the arcs of her muscles. It’s beautiful to look at, especially with Kelli splayed out underneath her, making amazing noises. 

Root idly slides her hand between Shaw’s legs, spreading her slick around and working two fingers into Shaw’s pussy easily, she hums happily at the feeling of Shaw’s inner muscles welcoming her, trying to get her deeper and pulls out suddenly, making Shaw whimper into Kelli’s cunt. 

Root leans back and hooks the tube of lube off the floor, squirting a dollop into her hand and spreading it over her dick again to replace what’s been smeared between Shaw’s legs and up her back, before coating her thumb thoroughly and pressing it up against Shaw’s asshole as she shifts forwards. 

“Remember, Shaw. Kelli comes twice before you do. And she said you could use your fingers,” she reminds her, wanting to see Shaw’s arm muscles work. 

She lines up against Shaw’s pussy with the ease of practise, Shaw arches her back and Root slams home hard. It’s not a terribly big dildo and Shaw likes the burn. She’s being so good that Root thinks she’s earned the little spike of discomfort. 

Shaw shudders as Root bottoms out, absorbing the shock of it with tense thighs, her hands braced on Kelli’s hips for a moment. Then she shifts her right hand out of Root’s view and Kelli groans, low and deep, in a way that sends fire skittering through Root and drives her hips forwards, imagining the feeling of Kelli around Shaw’s fingers. 

She sets a punishing pace, knowing there’s plenty of lube to ease the slide, Shaw will bruise but she probably won’t tear, and that’s the way both of them like it. 

Shaw just opens her legs wider and moans into Kelli, wet noises trickle through the room, audible over the low, rhythmic music, and Kelli throws one arm back, grabbing Shaw’s hair with her other hand and lifting her lower body up off the bed completely, forcing Shaw back a little. 

Root actually sees Kelli’s orgasm start in her toes, curling in the sheets, and then she’s slamming her hips back down to the bed, curling forwards and letting out a breathless list of expletives. She uses her grip on Shaw’s hair to grind her pussy hard into Shaw’s face. 

Shaw loves that shit, Root can feel her muscles trembling, on the edge of an orgasm, and she leans back a little, making room for herself to slide her slick thumb into Shaw’s ass, pushing past the tight ring of muscle and revelling in the wave of tension that rolls up Shaw’s body, the give and push of her hot flesh around her. 

She tries to push Shaw over, fucking into her as hard as she can. All the signals get mixed up in Root’s brain, feeling like she can feel Shaw’s pussy clamping around her dick and Kelli is writhing and moaning under them, Shaw chasing that orgasm down, holding her hips in place as she obeys the request for two orgasms before she’s allowed her own, no matter how much Root is trying to force her to come. 

Kelli curls up again with a high-pitched wail, and Shaw releases her flesh with a wet, sliding sound. She rubs her hand over Kelli’s thigh until Root can’t hold back any more and grabs Shaw’s hair violently with her free hand, yanking her up onto her hands and curling over her, wedging her thumb and dick deeper. 

Shaw makes a keening noise in the back of her throat, and then they’re both coming at the same time. Shaw’s muscles flutter around Root’s thumb and it’s so hot and firm and amazing that Root’s orgasm spreads out and just mows her down, leaving her collapsed on Shaw’s back on top of Kelli’s thighs, barely able to breathe as she slides her thumb out slowly so they can tip over together. 

She’s still harness deep in Shaw as they settle down on their sides, Kelli wriggling out of the way. 

Shaw curls up into a little, shaking ball that Root gentles with a damp hand down her heaving flank. Kelli shifts down and rolls enough to face Shaw, joining Root in stroking her until Shaw’s breath evens into deep gasps instead of frantic, useless little sips and Root starts to pull out, but Shaw reaches over her hip in an obvious but silent request to stay still. 

“Holy shit,” Kelli mutters, her hand curved over Shaw’s side, “I’ve never seen anyone come that hard.” 

Root manages a weak snigger and rolls her hips gently, making Shaw shudder and push back, just enough for Root to know that yes, Shaw can take another orgasm. She shifts slowly, pushing into Shaw and reaches over to take Kelli’s hand, guiding it to Shaw’s clit. “Well, if you’re up for some double penetration after this round I bet we can make her blackout,” 

Shaw moans agreeably and Kelli’s forearm muscles flex as she touches Shaw, trapped between them on her side. It’s not even a full minute before Shaw is coming again, sobbing blunted breaths in the back of her throat and clamping down enough that Root feels it all the way through the harness into her orgasm-tender flesh. 

She waits until the tension seeps out of Shaw’s bones leaving her to puddle and nose into Kelli’s neck, looking for contact in the way she does when she’s come so hard her brain’s fallen out and then Root slides out as gently as she can. Shaw whimpers pitifully, and Root grins lazily, rubbing the base of her back. “Give her a second to reboot. You in for fucking her blind?” 

Kelli pets the back of Shaw’s neck gently, “are you sure she’s not already blind?” There’s a wry note in her voice and Root smirks at it.

“Yeah. I’m sure. She’s tough. How about you, want me to get you off while we wait?” She reaches over to run her hand teasingly down Kelli’s thigh, her fingers a little clumsy with the lassitude of her recent orgasm still dragging on her. 

Kelli blinks indolently, still petting Shaw, but turning her hips under Root’s hand, “mm, I think I’m good for a minute, especially if we’re about to strap on. You?” 

Root shakes her head and wriggles backwards, making Shaw mumble in complaint as she slides away, popping the dildo out from the harness she’s wearing and waggling it in the air. “I’m gonna go rinse this so you can fuck her with it, and find something to put in her ass.” She watches Shaw as she speaks, seeing the way Shaw squeezes her legs together. 

It takes a few minutes to wash the dick off in the sink, and Root takes the opportunity for a quick wipe down. When she pads back into the bedroom, Shaw has untangled and is lying on her back with her hands behind her head looking pretty blissed out. Next to her, Kelli is leaning up on one arm, eyeing Shaw’s body with interest, trailing a finger around the muscles outlined on Shaw’s abdomen. 

Root grins at the sight and hooks her box of tricks back out from under the bed. She grabs a red leather harness for Kelli and slides the now clean dick into the O ring with confident fingers. She holds the kit out and Kelli sits up to take it, standing on the bed and stepping into it while Shaw watches with a look of equal parts eagerness and trepidation. Root squeezes her big toe. “What colour are you, Shaw?” 

“Bright green,” Shaw drawls it, shimmying on the bed. “I’m good, Root. Come fuck me.” 

Root grabs a slimmer dildo from the box, runs her hand over it thoughtfully and then forces its base through the ring, frowning when she sees the fit is loose. “I think Shaw should hold onto the headboard while we ram her, so why don’t you lie down, Kelli, and get started, I’ll join you in a second.” She irritatedly takes the harness off, pops the clips and hunts in the box for a smaller ring. By the time she’s set up, Shaw is writhing on top of Kelli making nigh on pornographic noises that tingle all the way through Root, re-stirring the buzz of desire in her veins. 

Kelli has her hands wrapped around Shaw’s hips, rocking against her, and Shaw is white knuckling on the metal headboard. They look fucking incredible, and Root can feel the arousal slicking her inner thighs, her heart pounding in eagerness. 

Root inches up behind them, straddling Kelli’s thighs and pressing up against Shaw’s back. Shaw leans into her in welcome, moaning as she rolls her hips, and Kelli blinks dazedly up at Root, looking like she’s seeing stars, “I know,” Root smirks down at her as she slides her fingers between Shaw’s legs, groaning inadvertently when she bumps up against the dick sliding in and out of Shaw’s soaked pussy. 

She toys with the swollen lips against the silicone for a moment before dragging Shaw’s arousal back, spreading it around her asshole and doubling up with lube before sliding her index finger in without further warning. 

Shaw tenses, clenching around the intrusion, holding her breath for a second and then shifting a little, taking a huge gulp of air and pressing back against Root’s hand. Root hums happily, leaning forward enough to bite Shaw’s back, and slides her finger in and out a few times, pressing forward so she can feel the movement of the cock against her fingers before pulling out to reload and push her second finger in slowly. 

This time, Shaw doesn’t relax as easily, Root can see the tension strung up her spine, feel the tremor in her legs. She presses wet, open mouthed kisses to Shaw’s shoulder blade, but Shaw keeps breathing in desperate little pants for a while, stilling her movements while she tries to get used to the sensations. 

While she gets herself under control, slowly starts rocking on top of Kelli in smooth motions again, Root rubs at the insides of her, stretching and warming the muscles until they feel pliant and welcoming around her fingers. 

She starts to enter Shaw with a third, but Shaw clenches immediately, swearing in a low hissed voice and squeezing so hard Root can barely move. She slowly pulls back, sliding out of Shaw with a little moan dragged from both of them. 

Shaw reaches back for her, trying to pull her close, clearly worried that Root’s going to change her mind, but Root strokes a hand down her back reassuringly before slipping off the bed and returning to her box. 

“Kelli, are you okay if I cuff Shaw to the headboard and gag her? She’s struggling.” 

“And that’s going to help?” Kelli’s voice is thready and gasping, her body shiny with a light coating of sweat. 

“Yep, that’s going to help. Promise.” Shaw’s better at relaxing when she’s restrained, when she can tug and pull but can’t get away from the sensations, just spike them with pain that she controls to keep it all from overwhelming her.

“Uh, sure, then. Just... fuck, don’t stop.” The last part is clearly directed at Shaw, who grunts in response and then rolls her hips in a way that makes Kelli moan throatily. 

Root grabs cuffs and two gags and makes quick work of restraining Shaw to the metal, looping headboard. Shaw lets go of the bar and tugs on the bonds immediately, violently, making a little noise in her throat, and Root can see the relief in her face. “Bar or ball, sweetie?” She strokes her hand down Shaw’s spine, cups her ass and squeezes, and Shaw pushes into her hand without losing her rhythm.

“Bar.” It’s a breathy whisper, and she opens her mouth for it, biting down firmly as soon as the rubber is between her teeth. The last of the uncomfortable tension drains out of her, she’s limp and rolling wetly on top of Kelli with liquid, smooth movements, and Root grins, leaning in to bite Shaw’s neck before pulling back with a lick. “Single tap the wall for more, double tap for less, triple tap for stop, okay?” 

Shaw nods, and Root wriggles down behind her again, bending over and sticking her tongue in Shaw’s ass without any preamble or warning. 

Shaw squeaks into the gag and comes, just like that, Root’s groan reverberating through her clenching body. 

Kelli doesn’t slow, either not realising or not caring, and Shaw only shivers for a minute before getting back into a rhythm with her, breathing in hard, desperate pants out of her nose. 

Root tongue fucks her lazily for a few more minutes before sitting back, spreading her with two fingers for luck until Shaw is yanking on her handcuffs trying to get closer, and then she sits up to slide her dick home in one, slow push. 

They all still, caught in a frozen moment of connection, Shaw trembling and grunting loudly, words muffled through the gag, but Root can hear her swearing past the rubber, “fuck, oh, fuck, oh fucking fucking Jesus, fuck,” and she just rubs her back lightly, letting her adjust. 

Kelli moves first, shifting under Shaw, then Shaw rolls with her and Root’s dragged along, leaning in and she can actually _feel_ where she’s rubbing up against Kelli’s dick _inside_ Shaw and it’s fucking amazing, absolutely fucking amazing. 

Shaw is making these little, incoherent noises in the back of her throat, and Kelli’s leaning her head back, exposing her throat, something between a whimper and a growl is streaming out of her, and Root’s thighs are pressed hot against Shaw’s quaking muscles and everything smells like sex and sweat. 

Root crosses her arms over Shaw’s chest, making her take their combined weight, and Shaw’s arms quake under the strain as she grabs the headboard again before they topple over, holding them both up. 

Kelli sits up, Shaw’s arms framing her neck as she slides her hands around Root’s back so they’re all crushed together, skin sliding damply against each other and Shaw trapped between them, forced to move when they do, totally out of control. 

Kelli hooks her heels over Root’s calves, using her for leverage, and thrusts up erratically, clearly on the verge of orgasm and unable to do anything except chase it down. Her eyes roll back as her chest flushes deep red. 

Root worms a hand between the press of muscular, sweaty stomachs and pinches Shaw’s clit, and Shaw freezes, her hips straining downward and then grinding forward into the pressure.

Kelli yells out and drags her nails down Root’s back, the shooting pain sparking through her, and Root snaps her hips forward once, twice, and then she’s coming, her orgasm smashing into her unbelievably hard, washing her nerves in fire, while Kelli collapses back onto the mattress.

She thrusts hard into Shaw, chasing the edge of pain-pleasure, and Shaw screams into her gag, her whole body jerking as she tumbles over the edge into an orgasm that seems to go on and on until Root has to pull out of her in a rush of liquid because Shaw physically can’t hold them up anymore and if Root doesn’t take her own weight Shaw might break her wrists. 

The withdrawal soaks them, Shaw’s clearly squirted, and the action makes Shaw shudder and twitch, falling forwards and pressing her forehead against Kelli’s sweat hazed chest, juddering and whining in the back of her throat with her hands uncomfortably stretched upward. 

They lie in a wet heap of bodies, Shaw with her eyes closed and her body tremoring, still making little noises and Root somehow summons the energy to lean up and unlock Shaw’s wrists and release the gag. 

Root crawls off them, clumsily pulling off the harness, and presses the length of her body next to the still shaking pair. Kelli has one hand clenched into the blankets, her knuckles white with pressure, and as Root watches she grips the fabric again, her face softening in a smaller wave of pleasure as Shaw wriggles off her dick and collapses half on top of them each. 

Kelli mumbles something and squirms out from under Shaw’s fucked out mess of a body, not even getting to her feet to pull the harness off, just making a shambles of the straps and discarding it in a tangled heap next to her before crawling back to them. 

Root takes the opportunity to pull Shaw down into a spoon and hold her wrists, smoothing the bloodied bracelets of skin with her thumbs, Kelli throwing her leg over Shaw whose muscles are still skipping in arrhythmic patterns. 

“You were right, it did help.” Kelli grunts, her hand over her eyes. “Holy fuck.” 

Root hums in amusement and agreement, bundling Shaw closer to her body and hooking her leg over Kelli’s ankle. “I didn’t even get to play with your piercing,” she grumbles weakly, and Kelli lets out a throaty laugh.

“If you guys ever want a rematch, I am a hundred percent in.” She slides her hand down Shaw’s arm, covering Root’s hand around the small, bruised wrist. 

They hold Shaw together for a while until she starts squirming, pushes their bodies away and almost falls off the bed, staggering towards the ensuite bathroom. Root can see faint red marks from the buckles of her harness stamped into the soft skin of Shaw’s ass. 

Root watches her with a grin, and strokes her hand down the curve of Kelli’s flank. “I gotta take care of her. Leave your number somewhere?” She tries to phrase it so it doesn’t sound harsh, like, get the fuck out, we’re done, but three in a bed isn’t easy for sleeping and Root just wants to curl up around Shaw now.

Kelli seems to agree, she pats Root’s hand gently and scrapes herself out of bed on slightly unsteady legs, wrinkling her nose and stretching. “Call me a cab? I gotta get to Willow Park.” 

“Sure. There’s another bathroom off the living room. Swiss Army Gender Knife on the door.Towels and everything if you wanna hop in the shower.” Root grabs her phone off the bedside table, turns the music off and app orders a taxi. After she hears the shower click off she reluctantly rolls out of bed, padding into the living room. “It’ll be here in five,” she lets her know as the girl comes out of the bathroom, naked. Kelli rummages through the pile of clothes on the floor, slides into her dress and shoves her panties into her purse. 

“Tell Shaw I said bye,” she winks at Root and lets herself out, and Root clicks the lock behind her then pads to the ensuite bathroom. 

Shaw is sat on the toilet, naked and shivering. Root can’t help the little noise she lets out when she sees her. “Aw, sweetie, let me.” She turns the bath taps on and helps Shaw to her feet, manhandling her into the bath and then climbing in behind her. She frames Shaw with her legs and reaches forward to turn the taps off. Shaw leans back against her weakly and Root rinses her off, rubbing a soft sponge down her shaking limbs and kissing her neck, telling her she’s good until Shaw turns and noses into her neck, curling up in her lap like a child. 

Root somehow manages to get her limp body out of the bath and forgoes drying in favour of just wrapping them both in a towel and walking Shaw into the bedroom. She sets Shaw down on a chair for a moment, and yanks the sheet off the bed, grabbing a new one and making a mess of changing it, but she’s fucked out and exhausted too, and it doesn’t matter that much, as long as they’re not sleeping in a puddle. After taking care of the bare hygienic minimum in the bathroom, she clicks the lights off and kicks the sex paraphernalia out of her path on her way to the bed.

Shaw has managed to crawl into bed under her own steam, and Root slides in, spooning up behind her. Shaw mumbles something and reaches over to grab her ass, then immediately falls asleep, breathing thick and laboured. Root holds her all night. 

The next day, when Root finds Kelli’s number on the counter with a note that says ‘I took some souvenirs, hope you don’t mind,’ she realises their panties are nowhere to be seen. And she really liked that pair, as well.


	6. How to Secret Santa, Casa Style

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a fluffy one shot, pre Christmas, post Kelli.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warnings** Nothing major, some mild smut, some discussion of less mild smut, scandalising Zoe, an enormous discussion about Angel/ Buffy that will be lame if you have never seen those shows. Essentially for [Swu](http://archiveofourown.org/users/swu/pseuds/swu) for encouraging the Shoot watching BtVS and Angel situation.
> 
> Skip to first horizontal rule to avoid smut
> 
> Also, I got tumblr. Tumble with me. @constantlyhalfcocked

10:20 MORGAN @ ROOT // did Shaw tell you about Secret Santa? //

10:22 ROOT @ MORGAN // no...?//

10:59 MORGAN @ ROOT // do you two ever have conversations or do you just stick stuff in each other’s mouths all day long? //

11:05 SHAW @ MORGAN // 163537.jpg ‘not just mouths, bitches’ //

11:06 ROOT @ MORGAN // ... I am so sorry, I tried to stop her //

11:08 MORGAN @ ROOT // huh. I had to turn my phone upside down to figure it out, but wow. 10/10. Nice pic. Good colour contrast, excellent composition. I enjoy the inclusion of couch fabric, nice pattern, Root and good decision on excluding your faces to focus on the more important parts. You guys are hot. I mean, I’m not into chicks, but I’d probably fuck you //

11:11 SHAW @ MORGAN // no you wouldn’t. Remember that time you tried to fuck me and pussed out like a giant puss? //

11:14 MORGAN @ SHAW // don’t enforce misogynistic standards by using your genitals to insult people //

11:16 SHAW @ MORGAN // that is not what I am using my genitals for //

11:16 MORGAN @ SHAW // regardless, maybe Root’s vjj is another kettle of fish //

11:16 MORGAN @ SHAW // Kettle of FISH //

11:16 MORGAN @ SHAW // Get it? //

11:17 MORGAN @ SHAW // C><| (that’s a fish) //

11:20 SHAW @ MORGAN // That’s a terrible fsh. you can do bettr. also root’s way classier than you .I bet you make people brush ther teeth after they aet u out before they kiss youdon’t you //

11:21 MORGAN @ SHAW // ... and in that scenario ROOT is the classy one? //

11:22 ROOT @ MORGAN // as thrilling as this conversation is, we’re sort of busy (as you can see in the picture) if I promise to make her tell me about secret santa will you stop texting us? //

11:22 MORGAN @ ROOT // what, multitasking too much for you? I noticed Shaw’s spelling has gone downhill and yours seems to have survived //

11:24 ROOT @ MORGAN // I have way better things for Shaw to be doing with her fingers //

11:25 MORGAN @ ROOT // it looked like you were doing just fine with that duck //

11:25 MORGAN @ ROOT // dick //

11:27 ROOT @ MORGAN // she’s telling me about secret santa right now //

11:28 MORGAN @ ROOT // okay, go team! Have fun, feel free to send more pictures //

11:28 SHAW @ MORGAN // 271761.jpg //

11:28 MORGAN @ SHAW // OH GOD MY EYES. TOO FAR SHAW //

*** 

“That was mean...” Root gasps as she rolls her hips under Shaw, who finally drops her phone onto the little table at the end of the couch and concentrates, wrapping her hands around Root’s back and leaning down to suck her lower lip into her mouth for a moment before responding.

“It was funny, Zoe’s always sending me dick pics. Oh, yeah, right there, don’t stop, ” Shaw groans and stills, grinding her hips down against Root, leaning back and almost falling off the couch as she shudders and gasps.

“Fuck, yeah. You like dicks though. Oh, shit. Okay.” Root comes with a little sigh and scrapes her nails down Shaw’s back, making the smaller girl shiver.

They both breathe heavily for a moment, and then Shaw lifts up, slumping sideways onto the sofa in a messy tangle of limbs, sprawling with her legs open. Root enjoys the view. Shaw tugs on her own pubic hair lightly, a blissful expression on her face.

* * *

 

“God, you’re good at that. So, secret santa. The whole casa does it, you have to buy six themed presents, one for each of us. Twenty bucks a present.”  
  
Root groans, wriggling sideways so she can lay down, kicking her rodeo harness off onto the floor and looping her fingers around Shaw’s wrist idly to ‘help’ her tug. “You buy six presents... so one for yourself as well?”  
  
“Duh, otherwise everyone will know who got what. Wrap them all in the same paper. It’s a thing.”  
  
“What kind of presents? Themed presents... What does that even mean?” Root tugs on Shaw’s wrist until she crawls up onto Root’s body into a cuddle, their legs wrapping together easily, sweat cooling between them as their breathing steadies.

“Well, last year, John got everyone posters, Harold got books, Joss did a ‘neck’ theme, the boys got ties and the girls got necklaces...”

“I have never seen you wear a necklace,” Root butts in, digging her fingertips into the tight muscles of Shaw’s lower back, making her purr.

“Well.. Zoe and Joss got regular ones. I got...thirty six candy necklaces. I ate one a day until the end of January.” Shaw sounds pretty pleased with herself.

“And your teeth somehow survived?” Root kisses her, exploring said teeth with her tongue for a moment, Shaw opening up readily, body melting.

“I’m immune to sugar, it is one of my many skills.”

“Alright, Xena. What did Zoe give?”

“Cleaning supplies.” Shaw grouches, chasing Root’s mouth for another kiss and then settling onto her chest, toying idly with her nipple until Root stills her hand, too sensitive. “It was in the middle of the great December Chore War.”

“Sounds intense. So, presents on a theme, similar but different for everyone, wrapped in the same paper. I can do that. What are you getting?”  
  
“It’s _secret_ santa, Root. What are you, an idiot?” Shaw obediently ceases her nipple harassment, choosing to run her hand down Root’s side, counting her ribs with her fingertips. “I’m gonna use your body to practise for my physiology exams. I’m gonna write all over you with sharpie.”

“Sounds a lot like you won’t get much studying done,” Root grins, arching under her hand.

“You can reward me with orgasms. It’ll be an extremely effective studying system,” Shaw presses her lips to Root’s collarbone and sucks gently.

“And what do I get out of it?” Root tips her head back, exposing her neck for Shaw’s attentions.

“To give me orgasms, obviously. You live to give me orgasms. I spend my days barely able to walk. When soccer starts back up you’re going to have to back off on the excessive pounding. Coach is gonna whip my ass if I limp into practice. I walked into like six doors the day after Kelli came over.”

“Hey, whipping your ass is my job.” Root complains, grabbing the item in question for a meaty squeeze.

“Well, you’re gonna have to use your big brain to figure out alternate ways to amuse yourself, because the season starts on January fifteenth. You have six weeks. At least I’m in great shape.” Shaw sits up enough to show Root her six pack, tensing and twisting and pointing. “Look at this shit.”

“I don’t need to look at it, it’s still covered in come from me sitting on it earlier. Very impressive.”

“Maybe I can do pushups while I ride your dick,” Shaw mutters thoughtfully, wriggling up and bracing her hands either side of Root’s head, legs draped down Root’s outer thighs so their pubes brush together. She begins to lower herself, and then the couch cushion slips under her hand, she falls sideways, grabbing onto Root with her other hand and they both tumble haphazardly to the floor in a tangle.

“Well, looks like you need to work on your coordination,” Root rubs her head mournfully where Shaw’s elbow collided midfall.

“Fuck, you okay?” Shaw bats Root’s hand out of the way and inspects her with a worried look that Root can’t help but try to kiss off her face, but Shaw evades her best effort, running her fingertips softly over the practically non-existent bump.

“I’m fine, sweetie.” Root grumbles, leaning against the sofa as she gives up on her kiss quest. Shaw trails her hand down Root’s jawline and lifts it gently to kiss her, climbing into her lap.

“Carry me to the bedroom,” she declares imperiously after kissing the breath out of Root.

“Hey, you’re the butch one. I only carry you when you can’t walk.” Root points out, but wraps her hands under Shaw’s butt anyway and attempts to get to her feet, failing miserably.

“Don’t feel bad, I’m a hundred and thirty pounds of pure, organic beef,” Shaw snickers, clambering to her feet and offering Root a hand. “C’mon, weakling. Clearly you’ve been slacking since I ended your physio sessions.”  
  
“Hey, I held you up against a wall for like forty minutes yesterday!” Root points out, letting Shaw yank her upward and pushing her in the direction of the bedroom.

“I had at _least_ half my body weight on that pipe, actually.” Shaw flops into the bed and rolls around before wriggling under the blankets and waving at the TV commandingly.

“Until you came, wherein you dropped that hundred thirty pounds of ‘pure, organic beef’ on to me with very little warning.” Root raises an eyebrow and clicks the TV on, chucking the control to Shaw who scrolls through Netflix and clicks on the episode of Angel they’re on. The preview shoot is of Fred, and Shaw looks at the screen, looks at Root, and looks at the screen again with an expression of dawning delight.

“Oh my God.”

“What?” Root asks warily.

“Oh. My. God. You look JUST like Winifred Burkle!” The pure, unadulterated glee in Shaw’s face makes Root roll her eyes.  
  
“What, no I don’t. I mean, we’re both hot brunettes, but that’s like me saying you look like Faith.”

“... Faith and I are different races, you know that, right?”  
  
“Short, angry, dark hair... Boobs. Sexually demanding and clearly into basically everyone. I totally see it.”

“Sure you do, Fred. So.. if you had to pick, Wesley or Gunn?”

“Ew on both. If I have to pick a dude then Spike, one hundred percent. He’d almost certainly bend over, and I bet he’d look great in a dress.” Root slides into bed, propping her hands behind her head.

“Freaky. I like it. Yeah, Spike’s a babe. Fuck Angel, he’s as dull as a table lamp.” Shaw kicks the blankets over her feet.

“Aw, he’s not so bad once he gets his own series. But yeah, not the funnest. Okay, top pick male and female from the Buffyverse?” Root drags just the sheet up a bit, and grabs the water bottle beside the bed to take a gulp before offering it to Shaw, who declines with a wave of the hand.

“Hmm. I’m doing this based on one night stand appeal, not faves, okay. So, Lilah. She looks like she’d know what is UP. I bet she’d fuck me stupid. And probably Wesley, but I’m totally biased because of that time he locked Justine up in a cupboard for months. You?”

“Do I have to pick a dude?” Shaw nods, and Root rolls her eyes, “you have no respect for my sexuality. Still Spike. He’s a total bottom. Or for a change up, Oz. What a babe. And for the girls, Faith, because as we’ve established I have a soft spot for short and angry. But if I have to pick someone new...Maybe Vi. I feel like there’s a little freak in there just waiting to get out. Plus, Felicia Day, you know.”   
  
“Mmm, I know.” Shaw snickers and rolls a little closer to Root so her toes brush against Root’s side, and then she clicks play on the episode, leaning over to bite Root’s earlobe and whisper, “but if Fred acted more like you...” over the opening credits.

 


	7. Bake the Halls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root drops around to Casa Machine for Christmas set up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning** : Smut, but vanilla. Weed, sex jokes.
> 
> smut marked by horizontal rules on either side if you want to skip

13:27 SHAW @ ROOT // do you wanna come over? We’re trimming the tree and baking ourselves //

13:46 ROOT @ SHAW // yeah, okay. I have some shit to finish up here, be there in like an hour //

13:47 SHAW @ ROOT // I do not guarantee my ability to hold a conversation in an hour, been smoking since we went to pick a tree, but see ya later. Also I am super horny, prepare to be jumped //

13:48 ROOT @ SHAW // sounds good. No worries. I’ll catch up //

14:21 MORGAN @ ROOT // I am so excited to see you!!!!!!!!!!! //

14:24 ROOT @ MORGAN // on a scale of one to fucked how fucked are you right now? //

14:26 MORGAN @ ROOT // tyrannosaurus fucked. But you haven’t been here since Spanksgiving. You just keep Shaw locked up in your sex den (literally?!) and never hang out with me. Harsh beans //

14:28 ROOT @ MORGAN // I’m very sorry //

14:30 MORGAN @ ROOT // if you bring me some sort of orange flavoured soda I will forgive you //

14:45 ROOT @ MORGAN // deal. See you in a few //

 

***

It’s pissing it down raining, so Root takes a cab and stops at the campus shop so she can buy Zoe her soda and pick up some other random supplies. The short walk from the store means she arrives at the Casa unpleasantly wet.

The door opens before she can knock, and a very, very merry looking Harold opens it up, a cheeky grin on his pink face.

“Welcome!” He beckons her in and she peels her soaked coat off carefully, hanging it over the end of the banister.

“Hey, Harry, happy holidays.” She’s extremely surprised by the hug she gets when she’s finished taking her shoes off, but returns it anyway, as best she can with her hands full of bags. He takes them off her very politely and she points at them.

“Snacks, drinks,” she looks mournfully at her wet socks, “I’m gonna go steal some of Shaw’s clothes.”

“I’ll tell them you’re here!” Christmas music trickles out of the living area, and she can hear giggling and low voices from the kitchen, but her pants are soaked from the rain so she pads up the stairs instead of going to say hello right away.

Harold heads off with the bags and she ducks into Shaw’s room, unable to hide a little smile at how comfortable she feels doing that now. The first time she was in this room was barely three months ago, and yet now she feels at home enough to steal some of Shaw’s clothes without asking.

She grabs some cozy sweatpants with no ankle elastic, they only reach down to her mid calves but it’s definitely better than soaking jeans, and then she steals some warm socks and drops her dry hoodie over the back of Shaw’s desk chair.

Something catches her eye, and she does a double take. A sketchpad, open, and on it an ink sketch of Root. It’s definitely her, and it’s pretty fucking good. She’s sat on the windowsill in her apartment, fading lines sketching in light detail of the bricks around the glass, but all the focus on her face, looking out over the snowy landscape below.

She dithers for a moment, torn between not wanting to invade Shaw’s privacy, and really wanting to look more closely at the picture, and then takes a deep breath, backing away from the table. If Shaw wanted Root to know that she could draw, and on top of that was drawing Root, she would have told her.

A noise behind her makes her turn, and she sees Shaw leaning in the doorway, smirking with her arms folded across her chest. “Busy bodies don’t get surprises for Christmas.” She stalks into the room, prowling towards Root with definite intention in her eyes.

Root holds her hands up in defence, licking her lips, “I didn’t look, really. It was just there.”

Shaw presses up against her, running hands around her waist and leaning up to bite at Root’s neck, pushing her hair out of the way with her nose. “Santa won’t bring you anything if you’re bad.”

* * *

 

Legs a little weakened by the sudden attack on her pulse point, Root leans back inadvertently against the desk. Shaw works her hands under the hem of Root’s shirt and shoves them down her sweatpants to paw at her ass while almost certainly leaving a mark on Root’s pale throat. She can’t bring herself to care. “You’re, uh, a little demanding this afternoon,” Root gasps, settling against Shaw’s thigh as she wedges it purposefully between her legs, using her body to pin her against the wooden table.

“Mmm,” Shaw agrees, pulling back enough to press Root gently on the sternum, guiding her back so she’s spread across the desk, “you’re not telling me to stop,” she murmurs before shoving Root’s shirt and bra up unceremoniously and sucking Root’s nipple into the wet heat of her mouth.

The door is open, Root can hear the low current of voices and music ebbing and throbbing from the downstairs, but Shaw is hot and soft and surprisingly pushy, and her teeth are scraping Root’s skin in the most delightful way as she bites her way down the tender skin of Root’s stomach, sinking to her knees and pushing Root’s sweatpants down so they pool around her ankles. “No, I’m not,” Root agrees, kicking one leg free of it’s cotton shackle and wrapping it around Shaw’s back.

Shaw grins up at her, pink-cheeked and wide-eyed. She sucks her lower lip into her mouth deliberately, and releases it with a quiet pop. “I wanna fuck you,”

“Okay,” Root acquiesces easily, figuring the leg maneuver clearly wasn’t a good enough go ahead, and Shaw leans in, pressing her open mouth to the juncture between Root’s thigh and groin, sending waves of heat dancing through her.

She shivers under Shaw’s lips, the soft kisses trailing across her inner thighs are too light, too delicate, but Shaw’s eyes are closed and she has a beatific expression on her face, like she’s in the happiest place she’s ever been, so Root just leans back and closes her eyes, wrapping her fingers over the edge of the desk and relaxing into the touches.

Shaw takes her time, clearly not in a hurry, moving from soft, barely-there kisses to wet bites, stinging Root’s flesh. Root’s knuckles are white with the effort not to just grab Shaw’s hair and drive her pussy into her face, but this is a new thing they are doing and Shaw is obviously super baked, and enjoying herself. Root doesn’t wanna spoil her fun. Plus, it feels really fucking good, in a mildly frustrating sort of way.

When Shaw finally, finally presses against Root’s centre, the contact makes Root curl up with a groan, knocking a pot of pens on to the floor with a clatter. Shaw’s mouth is hot, so hot, and her tongue is soft and amazing, tracing patterns around Root’s most delicate flesh, slow and unhurried.

Root bites her lip and lies down fully, arching her hips off the desk and moving her hands to clutch onto the edge behind her head, yanking the whole table forward a little by accident. Shaw hums against her and slides her tongue down, spreading Root open and pushing into her, making heat boil outwards in Root’s belly, her skin feels hot and tight and she can feel the desk creaking under her hands as she pushes her body against Shaw.

Shaw takes her time, sucking and licking, biting delicately at Root’s pussy lips, and slowly working two fingers into her, dragging them down her front wall, deliberately winding her tighter and tighter.

Root groans deep in her throat, flexing against the piles of paper and random things jabbing into her shoulders, grinding into the hot mouth skillfully working her over. Shaw slowly moves up, sliding her tongue wide and soft over Root’s clit, smoothing broad circles against it.

Root is so close, she can feel her orgasm building, coiling low in her stomach, filling her from head to toe with tension. Shaw’s soft lips finally suck her clit into her mouth, she laves her tongue over it, rubbing her fingertips with more purpose at Root’s Gspot and then there’s a horrible noise and the world gives way, tilting out from underneath them.

* * *

 

Something hits Root in the back of the head, she bashes her elbow hard enough to make her cry out and Shaw is gone from between her legs because Root is sprawled on a broken desk, with her pants around one ankle and a dizzying mixture of almost-orgasm and pain fogging her brain.

Shaw is spread-eagled on the carpet, blinking confusedly. Before Root can gather her wits enough to move, thundering footsteps turn into a pile of bodies at the door.

“What the fuck happened, are you okay?” Zoe barrels in, grinds to a halt, and then just folds up laughing. “Oh my God, you guys. You broke the desk! You fucking broke the desk.”

“What? What happened?” John almost bounces off the door frame, looks in, and then spins around immediately. “Vagina! There’s a vagina in there! Don’t look.” Root belatedly wriggles off the now floor-bound desktop, shoving her leg into her sweatpants and dragging them back up, wrinkling her nose in discomfort as the seam crushes into her in her haste.

“I told you to buy adult furniture, Shaw!” Zoe wheezes out from between huge guffaws of laughter. Joss squeezes around John, taking in the state of the room.

It must have been a really loud noise, Root belatedly realises, because the front legs of the desk have actually snapped, depositing piles of books and papers as well as Root herself onto the floor.

Joss shoves Zoe in the back, which results in her dropping to her knees, still helplessly laughing so much she can barely breathe while Joss leans down over Shaw, “did you hit your head?”

“Naw. I just... fuck.” She swipes her hand over her damp chin, and Joss recoils.

“Ew, gross.”

“You’re the one in my bedroom,” Shaw points out dryly as she squirms into a sitting position, holding her side. “You okay, Root?”

“I think so,” Root rubs her elbow mournfully.

“Did you at least get off?” Zoe gasps pitifully, “your vajayjay may never forgive you.”

“Urgh.” Root climbs to her feet, pulling her sweatpants down a little and trying to inspect her elbow for damage.

“Is everyone alive and clothed?” Harold asks from the doorway, not in view.

“Yeah, Harold we’re good. I just need a new desk.” Shaw clambers to her feet, using the bed to help her up, “we’ll see you downstairs.”

She limps over to Root, rubbing her hip with a pained expression. “I think you broke my ass.”

“That was definitely not my fault,” Root gives up on trying to look at her own elbow and proffers it to Shaw while Joss gathers the laughing pile of what used to be Zoe up and steers her towards the door.

Shaw runs her fingers over Root’s arm and makes a face, “you should probably ice that, but I’m pretty sure it’s not broken. Gonna be a hell of a bruise though, it’s all red. Want me to finish you off or should we...” she thumbs at the door and Root huffs out a tiny laugh, pouting.

“I think my orgasm has beaten a thorough retreat. So ice me and lets join the party. You should probably deal with the facial I’ve given you, though.” She manages a little smirk at the end, and carefully picks her way out of the disaster zone.

Shaw eyes the damages, “I think I need to go desk shopping. This isn’t fixable.” It is obviously true, the splinters and shards all over the floor from the shattered joints are clear proof, and Root snorts.

“Ikea? I’ll drive you tomorrow, and please can we deal with this shit show later? Gimme some weed, it’ll make me feel less like I was run over by the orgasm denial fairy.”

“You have no self control,” Shaw grumbles, heading for the door, kicking a book out of her path. “Do you want bong, spliff or green treats. We have a delicious selection for your perusal. John spent all morning baking. He’s a champion.”

“Ooh, treats. I like treats.” Root cheers up a little, although keeping her injured elbow across her stomach, the dull throb of pain insistently demanding her attention. “Do you have any ibuprofen?”

“You’ll crush your high,” Shaw points out, “take some tylenol and we’ll anti-inflammatory you before you go to bed.”

“Ooh, Doctor Shaw. Maybe we should stay here.” Root pinches her butt before heading down the stairs, but turns around when Shaw starts following her and waves at her face. “We’ve already scarred your housemates for life once this evening, go wash.”

“I have literally trodden in jizz that Zoe, well, Zoe and some jizz-carrying stallion, left on the bathroom floor, and you’re worried about a bit of slick on my face? It’s not like I’m gonna make out with them, fucking delicate flowers,” Shaw grumbles but obediently turns around and heads for the bathroom.

Root shuffles into the living room and is greeted by the sight of John bent down under an enormous tree that is clearly too big for the corner it’s wedged into. Joss and Harold are holding it upright while Zoe is helpfully lying on the floor with a glass balanced on her stomach. “Hey, Root. Hows your vag? Have a brownie.” She waves somewhere in the direction of the kitchen, and grins. “Thanks for the soda, by the way.”

“My pleasure,” Root pokes her with her toes on the way past and pads into the kitchen, spying a tray of squishy looking chocolate brownies on top of the oven. After grabbing an ice pack from the freezer, she slides a brownie onto a plate but not before taking a small bite. Then she grabs a glass of milk, realises her elbow hurts too much to carry said milk and balances the plate on top of it so she can carry it one-handed to head back to the living room.

John has now gotten the tree screwed into place in its holder and Harold is busy picking out pine needles from the big guy’s hair, but when Root reenters he looks up and smirks. “Oh, we found a couple of strings of Christmas lights that aren’t working any more, if you want to take them.”

“Why would I want broken Christmas lights, Harry?” Root queries, sitting down on the floor next to Zoe, and carefully placing her spoils next to her, taking another little nibble of her pot brownie and a gulp of milk.

“I thought maybe you could tie Shaw to something so she stops breaking all the furniture, indulge in some festive holiday cheer?” He almost doesn’t get the words out past his own chuckles, and John just looks up at him with this wide-eyed, totally thrown expression that has Root cracking up herself in moments. Stoned Harold makes sex jokes, who knew?

“She actually breaks more stuff if she’s tied to it. She’s fucking strong,” she points out. “How strong are these, by the way?” She waves her brownie in the air.

“Not as strong as me, but don’t eat a whole one at once unless you have a really high tolerance. John is heavy-handed.” Shaw plops down next to Root, tipping a couple of little pills on to the side of her plate.

“You love it when I.. oh, you mean the brownies,” Root smirks, unable to not make the joke, and Shaw rolls her eyes, propping her feet on Zoe’s thigh and leaning her head on Root’s shoulder for a minute before sitting up again.

“What was that about tying me up with Christmas lights? Sounds very seasonal,” she drawls, stealing a mouthful of Root’s milk and making a pleased noise, while Joss and Harold get on with stringing working lights around the overly large tree.

“Harold thinks it might save the furniture. Do you guys need help?” Root asks after stealing her milk back to take her pills.

“One day I’ll have hooks in the ceilings for my punch bags, and also, restraints,” Shaw murmurs quietly to Root, making her grin.

“Don’t try and help with the decorating,” Zoe lifts her head off the ground to give Root a serious look, “Harold and Joss are very, very particular, and everything you do will be wrong. Our job is to watch, shout encouragement and get very, very stoned. Also hand them stuff when they yell at us.”

“Sounds good to me,” Root grabs a pillow off the couch and shoves it under her butt, settling in comfortably. John flops down in a chair, clearly exhausted from his efforts, and picks up a joint, lighting it before taking a few puffs and passing it to Shaw, who grins up at Root, takes a hit and then before Root realises what’s happening, leans in and kisses her, exhaling the smoke into her lungs with a liberal dose of tongue to help it down.

Root only just manages not to cough, and Shaw rolls her eyes, while Zoe reaches up to grab the joint. “You guys are super hot. You make me question my sexuality.”

“Your sexuality is ‘horny’,” Shaw hands her the joint. “You like boys, and then, when there’s no dick around, basically anything turns you on. You’re like a sexual panda. You eat bamboo slash dick all the time, but if you can’t find any you’ll eat an apple because you’re hungry. And you have yet to realise that bamboo is killing your people.”

“That... might be the worst analogy I have ever heard,” Zoe inhales, then wriggles on the floor to pass the spliff across to Joss, who waves it away as she carefully selects a new bauble from a golden box. “I’m not a sexual panda. And why don’t Harold and John turn me on, no offence, boys, if I am?”

“None taken, I don’t think.” Harold takes the joint with polite fingers, holding it delicately and taking a long drag before blowing a smoke ring on the exhale. “But probably because you can’t imagine yourself in this extremely gay scenario, due to the fact John can’t even look a vagina in the eye.”

“Vaginas don’t have eyes,” John dives forward to steal the joint and settles back in the easy chair with it, looking at the room through narrowed eyes.

“You’re all insane,” Joss grumbles, adding a few silver metal icicles to the tree and stepping back. “What do you think?”

“I don’t think you’re a sexual panda, Zoe.” Root pats Zoe’s thigh, feeling very friendly, “more like a scavenger. Like, sexually, you’ll survive even a dickapocalypse. Dickpocalypse. You’re evolved.”

“I’m pretty sure there are studies showing that women are turned on by ladyporn as well as manporn, so that might explain it. Maybe I should watch you guys fucking to be sure,” Zoe rolls over and grins at them. “Plus we all know you are kinky exhibitionists, so it’s not like it wouldn’t be a turn on.”

“You can’t watch us fucking, Zoe,” Shaw growls at her, finishing Root’s milk and earning a ‘hey’ of protest.

“Harsh. What if it’s all I want for Christmas?” Zoe splays her arms out on the floor and yells at the ceiling, “Santa, I want ladyporn.”

“We can give you ladyporn, Zoe. I have loads of ladyporn,” Root licks her fingers to get the last crumbs of brownie off them. “But I’m with Shaw, you can’t watch us fuck. Too weird unless you wanna join in."

“You guys suck. I bet Harold and John would let me watch them fuck,” Zoe grumbles, unwrapping a candy she’s found somewhere, stuffing it in her mouth and giving Joss a thumbs up, clearly approving the tree although it doesn’t seem like Joss cares too much what she thinks.

“No, no we wouldn’t.” Harold interjects, rearranging a single bauble and stepping back. “I think it’s perfect.”

“Yeah, it looks amazing.” Root wriggles sideways, lays her head on Shaw’s thigh and slings her feet over Zoe’s stomach. “Good job, team.”

“Yes, we've done wonderfully. Christmas has arrived!” Zoe proclaims, patting Root’s calf gently.

“Well, give me the joint then!” Joss holds her hand out to John demandingly, and he gives her an enormous grin before handing it over.

“You get to pick the Christmas movie now,” he adds helpfully, leaning over and turning the stereo off. “It’s your turn. Oh, Root, if you’re coming for Christmas day you have to bring a movie that isn’t Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Grinch, Muppet’s Christmas Carol or the Dr Who Christmas Special, which Harold insists counts as a movie and makes us watch every year.”

He clicks the TV on and finds some terrible looking Christmas movie being advertised at the top of Netflix, with a bunch of girls in skimpy Christmas outfits singing and waving bells, putting it on at low volume.

“How about Jingle All the Way?”

Shaw looks down at Root and pokes her in the face gently, “What is that?”

“Arnold Schwarzenegger Christmas movie? It’s pretty great. Or Die Hard, if you’re not into Arnie. Both excellent. I’ll bring both.”

“Oooh, we should watch Die Hard right now. What is this shit you've chosen, John?” On the screen, some sort of acapella Christmas thing is happening, and it’s awful.

He sniggers, and clicks out of it, “I dunno, looked interesting. Joss, is Die Hard okay? It is your pick.”

“Whatever.” Joss huffs, flopping down on the sofa and putting her feet on Root’s stomach because there’s no available floor. “I do like me a bit of Bruce Willis.”

With the Christmas lights illuminating the room, the dulcet sound of gunfire ringing in her ears, Shaw’s belly under her head, and copious amounts of weed, Root finds that the Casa Christmas set up is just about perfect.


	8. Structural Integrity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root and Shaw go shopping to replace the desk of doom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning** mild exhibitionism, voice kink, inappropriate shopping, scandalising people in Ikea. I'm sorry these guys are such pervs. Every time I write a one shot it rapidly descends into smut. Since they started sleeping together it's like 50% trash. My bad.
> 
> Smut marked by horizontal rule, but there is some verbal foreplay in the Ikea queue that is not demarcated.

“This is hell.” Shaw looks like a grumpy garden gnome in her excessive layering due to the two feet of snow decorating the outside world and Root thinks it’s adorable.

“This is Ikea, three weeks before Christmas. And you’re the one who insisted we couldn’t buy it online.” Root deftly skips out of the way of a rampaging toddler, narrowly avoiding a display of glass vases.

“Delivery is a ripoff, and then the people have some freaky sixth sense and always turn up when you’re fucking. Acting all shocked when you open the door in silk Superman boxers and nothing else because your brain isn’t working.” Shaw grumbles, kicking the wheel of her shopping cart and almost running down a pair of teenagers looking at shelving, possibly on purpose.

“That is... weirdly specific, so I’m going to assume a lived experience? And I would raise the point that you’re a big fan of fucking, and do it as often as possible, so it takes up a disproportionate amount of your time.” Shaw growls in response and ploughs a path right through the crowds of people while Root dodges out of the way of a red-faced family and spies a sign for study furniture.

“This way, Shaw.” Root points, and then has to pull in between two beds to avoid a wide load being pushed by someone either too drunk or too idiotic to be in charge of such things. “Oooh, look at this headboard!”

“I don’t need a new bed, Root,” Shaw points out irritably, and Root grabs her by the back of the coat before she can push on.

“Take your coat off, you must be melting, and I know you don’t _need_ a new bed, but yours doesn’t have anywhere convenient for me to tie...” she trails off, catching the scandalised expression on the face of a woman in her mid-forties, who promptly puts her hands over a teenager’s ears. He is much too old for that, and ducks away with an expression of disgust. “Dye. Tie dye.”

“Smooth,” Shaw mutters, but parks the cart, shrugging off her coat to throw in it, and comes to take a look at the headboard Root is checking out. “You do okay just spread-eagling me using the bed legs, you’re such a great dom,” she declares brightly and loudly, grinning at the woman whose kid looks from Root to Shaw and back again and then gets a big idiot smile on his face as his mother drags him away by the hood.

“You’re a liability. If we get thrown out of Ikea I’m going to punish you.” Root can’t help but laugh, yanking on the metal cylinder that forms the top of a swirling, white pattern that’s probably a bit girly for Shaw’s tastes, but has excellent bondage potential. “We could spray paint this black.”

“Hmm, yeah. Would the paint just chip off with handcuffs, though?” Shaw runs her fingers down it thoughtfully, and then turns her attention to the baseboard, which is comprised of vertical bars at intervals that look perfect for shoving hands through. She wanders around to check, and yeah, she can get her arm through the gap up to mid-bicep. Which is great, Root is way skinnier.

“Not if we use the stuff for spraying cars,” Root grabs with both hands and tugs as hard as she can, and then gives a wide-eyed, innocent look to a nearby elderly couple. “Our cats are very vicious.”

Shaw snorts and checks the price tag. “Is this because you’re worried about the structural integrity of my bed now that you know I bought cheap furniture?”

“Partly. But partly because.. variety is the spice of life? I like to have options. Let’s keep looking, this one is pretty girly although looks very multi-purpose. We’re not actually bed shopping, after all.”

They make their way, with difficulty, to the desk section, Shaw has to drag Root away from the light fittings, for some reason, and Root does not approve of the glint in Shaw’s eye when they pass the children’s beds, featuring slides and things.

They finally make it to desks, and Root makes Shaw park again so they can wander with their hands free. “Soooo, how much space do you need to draw?” Root doesn’t look at Shaw, just runs her hands over the nearest desk, grabs the edges and gives it a little rock.

“I only go up to A3 on paper and then after that I use canvases. And you’re not sneaky. At all. By the way.” Shaw shoots Root a dirty look, and takes a seat at a desk chair, pulling out a keyboard tray with an expression of extreme distaste.

“I didn’t know you could art,” Root remarks, moving on to a stainless steel desk that looks pretty tough, “hey, this one has holes in it!”

“Those are for wires, Root. And art isn’t a verb.”

“Wires, schmires. You don’t have a desktop, so we could utilise them however we liked. Oh, wait a minute, no. The angles are all wrong, you’d pull it over in seconds and probably break your legs.”

“Did you just... do an equation in your head to work out whether this desk would hold up to me yanking on the back of it?” Shaw sounds faintly impressed.

“I am still bruised from the last shitty desk you bought, so...Yes,” Root points at the set back legs, and then the lip of the table, “I dunno what idiot designed this..”

“Presumably not one with us in mind. Nerd,” Shaw licks her lips, clearly considering the situation, “but if you say it won’t hold me, I believe you. I am basically the Hulk.”

“Sure you are, sweetie. So, you paint as well, huh?” Root looks at the next contender, a sturdy-looking, wooden affair with cubby holes down each side on the front that she decides would get in the way.

“Some. I did the explosion on my wall,” Root can actually see Shaw giving her sidelong glances out of her peripheral vision, but she doesn’t look over, Shaw’s body language is of the ‘I’m about to shut down any minute, just watch me,’ variety, but sometimes Root can drag out the open section for a bit without Shaw realising it. “I stopped drawing for a while, after... last summer. But it’s been coming back a bit.” Shaw squats down and looks under a wood-metal combo. “This looks pretty solid.”

Making a mental note to look at the explosion painting more closely, Root weaves around the back of it, squats down so she can see Shaw through the legs, “hello, Doctor. Fancy meeting you here.”

Shaw rolls her eyes, “dork. Whaddya think of the desk?”

Root grabs the legs and pulls, managing to lift most of her body weight off the floor, “solid, but.. kinda ugly.”

“Hmph. It’s not like we’re interior decorating. Just replacing the desk you broke with sex.” Shaw sounds a bit miffed, and Root clambers out of the desk slot, wandering down the aisle.

“Takes two to break a desk, Shaw.” She can almost feel the eyeroll, and it makes her grin. The next desk up looks promising, a heavy-looking, dark wood thing that is shaped to fit into a corner. “What about this one?”

“Looks okay.” Shaw actually hops up on it and bounces a bit, smirking, “firm, resilient. And we could actually bracket it, or put hoops in the wall as long as it won’t tip over.”

“I think it’ll hold up. Do you like it?” Root asks, running her hand over the desk top, up and over Shaw’s leg, lingering on her inner seam deliberately for a moment before pinching the soft flesh just under the back of Shaw’s knee.

Shaw takes a little gulp of air and slides off, “it’s a desk, Root. What’s to like? You sit at it, put things on it. Occasionally very squirmy things...”

“Cool, I guess we’re good, then. Can you reach?” Root tries to hide her grin as Shaw growls, stretching up to grab the flat box off the pallet behind the display unit.

She almost topples over with the weight, not able to get her arms around it properly, but recovers before she actually staggers into anything as she struggles down the aisle.

She slides the box onto the cart while Root watches with what she’s pretty sure is a lascivious grin on her face, and slaps Shaw’s butt when she starts pushing, “so, wanna break it in?”

“Sorta have to put it together first, Root,” Shaw grumbles, but Root can see the little pleased smirk playing around the corner of her mouth.

“Ooh, construction worker Shaw. Do you have a toolbelt? Can I hang my dicks in it while you work up a sweat?”

“...yeah, I guess.” They join the back of an overly enormous queue, and Shaw groans, putting her head down onto the handlebar and bumping it gently against it. She stills immediately when Root shifts close up behind her, bracketing Shaw with her arms.

“Want me to tell you what I’m going to do to you on this desk later, while we wait?” She murmurs, right into Shaw’s ear, leaning back in time to see the flush of pink tinge it.

“Root,” Shaw hisses, looking around to see that absolutely no one is paying them any attention. “Yeah, okay.”

“First of all I’m gonna bend you over it, naked, of course. I’ll tell you to put your hands on the walls, you’re gonna have to stretch, just a bit, I think. Maybe on your tiptoes if I’m really lucky. Then I’m gonna push up behind you, hold you down by your neck and grind against you for a little while, cause I love watching you squirming around without anything good to press against. I’m gonna bruise your hipbones against it, sweetie, you’re gonna bruise so nicely I’ll wanna mark you some more, so I’ll leave you there while I go and look for something to hit you with. Your legs will be trembling with the effort of staying still, but you’re gonna hold yourself there for me, because you’re such a good girl...” Root stops talking to push the cart forwards, Shaw just sort of stands there dazedly for a moment with her hands out like they’re still on the bar and then takes a couple of hurried steps to catch up.

As if she wasn’t interrupted, Root leans down and continues to purr right into Shaw’s ear, “I think maybe that paddle we bought, oh, you won’t be able to sit down easily for days and every time you wince you’ll think of me, cash, credit or debit?”

“Whuh?” Shaw manages an incoherent noise and Root gestures at the cashier who has his eyebrows raised and his hand out. “Oh.. uh.”

“Credit,” Root decides, fishing a card out of her purse and handing it over before Shaw can blink away the vivid imagery that has clearly short-circuited her.

They’re out the door into the snow before she’s gathered her wits enough to ask, “did you just buy me a desk?”

“Only because you looked like you were about to orgasm on the spot and I wanted to get you into the car so I could benefit,” Root smirks, aware that she probably looks far too pleased with herself.

The snowy wind whips at them as they fight the cart across the parking lot to the car, and Shaw glowers at Root the whole time it takes to wriggle the big box into the back seat. “I’m paying you back.”

“Obviously... What’s your currency of choice?” Root waggles her eyebrows, slides into the driver’s seat and leans over to lower the passenger chair before Shaw can get in. “Sit back, relax...”

“Dollars. Root. Dollars.” Shaw slides into the almost horizontal seat with little complaint, finally grinning at Root and putting her hands behind her head. “What’s your plan here?”

* * *

 

“I thought I’d watch you jerking off, thinking about the nice things I’m going to do to you when we get home.” Root half turns the key and the electronics click on, music trickling out of the speakers and air blasting out of the vents. “Hand down your pants, sweetie. Looking at me.” Root wriggles to lean over the console and slides her hand around Shaw’s throat, “and maybe I’ll choke you a little bit. Who knows.”

Shaw glances out the window for a moment, the carpark is packed, but people are all head down and coat collar up, trying to get through the cold to the store. Unless the person parked right next to them comes back, they’ll probably be good. She shrugs, clearly getting on board, and pops the button on her jeans, worming her hand inside and hissing as her cold fingers hit heated skin.

Root grins and rubs her thumb across Shaw’s pulse point, cupping her throat like it’s a delicate piece of china or something.

Shaw groans and pushes against her hand, her eyes fluttering closed as her hand works beneath the tight fabric of her jeans.

“Eyes, Sameen. Look at me. I wanna watch you come.”

Obediently, Shaw looks right at Root with her big, dark eyes hooded with pleasure, little micro-expressions flitting over her face as she touches herself. Root loves watching Shaw, she shows so much emotion in just the slightest movement of her eyes or mouth. For someone who professes to not feel the same way as most people, she sure can run a whole gamut of expressions in minimal time.

Root squeezes, cutting off the blood flow to Shaw’s brain, and her eyes slam shut automatically as her head crashes back against the seat. Her lips part and slowly darken as blood suffuses her face, trapped by Root’s hand.

Root releases her grip and watches the pleasure roll over Shaw as her eyes open again, locking on to Root with awe and lust painted all over her.

The radio switches to Twenty One Pilots, which makes Root chuckle, mouthing along to Tear in My Heart while she strokes Shaw’s neck, then slides her hand between the buttons of Shaw’s thick coat to cup her breast through the multiple layers of fabric.

She cups her gently then tightens her grip, almost hard enough to bruise and Shaw cries out, grabbing onto the edge of her seat with her free hand, speeding up her rhythm and breathing in irregular little skips.

Shaw stops inhaling completely, and Root squeezes again, leans over and sucks her earlobe into her mouth, whispering, “Yeah, Sameen, come for me,” in her sexiest command voice and Shaw does, curling up with a whine, kicking her leg hard into the footwell and sliding down further in her seat.

She’s red in the face, dishevelled and breathing hard when she pulls her hand out of her pants and Root grabs it, sucking her fingers into her mouth with a satisfied expression. Then Root just leans over, clicks Shaw’s belt on for her and starts the car.

Shaw opens the window a smidge and unbuttons her coat with clumsy fingers, a look of blissful lassitude on her face. “Who knew shopping at Christmas could be so much fun?”


	9. Twas the Night Before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Machine go iceskating, also, some Shoot sex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning**  
>  biting, anal, mild exhibitionism, voice kink, praise kink. Basic Shoot stuff.
> 
> Smut marked by horizontal rule

16:21 MORGAN @ ROOT // so, how’s tonight gonna work with the three of us? you wanna take it in turns, or what? //

16:25 ROOT @ MORGAN // ...Did Shaw arrange a Christmas Eve threeway without even talking to me? //

16:27 SHAW @ ROOT // I dunno what you just did but Zoe dropped her iPhone in her hot chocolate while saying your name in a super, super weird voice like she was being strangled. did you send her nudies? is this what she looks like when I send her nudies? if so, excellent work. also send it to me //

16:27 ROOT @ SHAW // No, she sent me ‘how’s tonight gonna work with the three of us?’ so I asked if you had arranged a threeway. I was mostly joking. Did she really drop her phone? //

16:28 SHAW @ ROOT // you owe me a new phone, Root. that was NOT what I meant //

16:29 ROOT @ SHAW // Hi, Zoe. I have an old iPhone 4 you can borrow til you get a new one, but I am like 95% sure that it’s not my fault you dropped it in your drink. Cause.. re read what you sent me. Oh wait, you can’t. Because you dropped your phone in your drink...//

16:30 SHAW @ ROOT // you’re being kind of mean right now, Root. but no, I meant because I am dating your naked partner in crime (note how I am still avoiding the ‘g’ word in order to avoid the accompanying painful upper arm bruising) this evening so I dunno what you are gonna do. I’m willing to take shifts if you want //

16:36 ROOT @ SHAW // I have literally no idea what you’re talking about, once again, but if you’re dating Shaw tonight have a nice time. I guess I’ll hang with Joss and the boys. Since we’re all going iceskating together. With you. And Shaw. Yeah, I really don’t know what you are talking about //

16:36 SHAW @ ROOT // it’s actually me now. Zoe’s wandered off, girl has the attention span of a spoon. I’m not ‘dating’ her. But the ice skating thing is something she used to do with her mom before she died, so I took her in second year to try and cheer her up, and it turned into a thing. we just go together. not in a gay way. we’re better at skating than everyone else anyway //

16:38 ROOT @ SHAW // everything you do is in a gay way. But I’m never gonna ask you to break a friend tradition so tell Zoe not to worry about it. You’re all hers, as it were. I gotta get ready, I’ll see you in an hour //

16:39 SHAW @ ROOT // when I do men it’s not in a gay way //

16:40 ROOT @ SHAW // Are you sure? ;) //

 

***

  
Joss opens the door with a wide grin and a glass of mulled wine which she passes to Root as soon as she puts her box of prezzies down and gets her thick woollen coat off. “Merry, merry, my friend!”

“Same to you!” Root leans in for a hug after depositing her coat over the banister and taking the wine. Joss is wearing a dark blue sweater with little white snowflakes and it’s very cute. “Nice sweater.”

“Thanks! C’mon in, we’re just finishing a game and then the taxi’ll be here in like twenty minutes.” Joss leads the way into the living room where Zoe, John, and Harold are lying on the floor around Settlers of Catan while Shaw is splayed out on the sofa with her hands full of gingerbread. Just full. Fistfuls of gingerbread. Joss sits down and leans against John’s side before taking her turn.

“Happy holigays, team.” After fishing her old iPhone and charger out of her pocket, waving it at Zoe and setting it down on the table Root shifts Shaw’s feet enough to sit down on the couch.

Shaw immediately puts her socked feet back down on Root’s lap, mumbling something completely incoherent through her mouthful of gingerbread. It might be a greeting, or a protest that Root is invading her space. Hard to know.

“Hey, Root, good to see you,” John waves at her before settling his little blue farmer down on the board and grinning smugly at Harold, but it only takes Root a minute looking at the current division of land and the amount of people the players have left to place to surmise that anyone beating player green is very, very unlikely at this point.

Just to see what happens, Root reaches out like she’s going to take a piece of Shaw’s snack and Shaw snarls at her, puffing crumbs everywhere.

Laughing, Root sits back, patting Shaw’s ankle comfortingly and taking a sip of wine. “Kidding, sweetie.”

 

“That’s my mom’s gingerbread, and Shaw eats it all. Every year.” Joss complains with a smile on her face, and Shaw makes a strangled noise as she forces her mouthful down.

“She sends it _to me_.” She sounds adorably indignant and then coughs violently on some crumbs.

Root flinches with the drama of the choking, and holds her wine out in question, but Shaw simply releases a handful of gingerbread to run wild on her stomach, leans over the side of the sofa and gets what looks like an adult-sized sippy cup which she upends over her mouth and takes a thirsty gulp out of to stop the coughing.

“Nice... mug?” Root says wryly and Shaw salutes her with it.

“I got it for myself for Christmas last year, excellent for horizontal and upside down drinking. Oh, that reminds me. There’s a white canvas bag on the counter in the kitchen, you gotta put your secret santa prezzies in there and then under the tree.” Indeed, under the tree instead of presents there are five identical white bags. Presumably to keep the mystery alive of who dropped off which pile of presents. Although since Shaw definitely knows who gave what last year, Root assumes there will be some sort of guessing inherent in the gift giving ceremony.

“She doesn’t send it to you, Shaw, she sends it to ‘my housemates’, all of these people you live with.”

“Well, I eat Bear’s share too, he’s a dog. And Zoe’s cause she doesn’t like gingerbread, and John’s because I’ll fight him for it. You and Harold totally get a piece.”

“A _piece_.” Joss hisses at Root, but there’s a grin on her face and it’s clearly an old battle.

Root snickers and dumps Shaw’s feet off her lap not carefully enough, accidentally upsetting the gingerbread which Shaw frantically tries to save while Root slides to her feet, making her way to the kitchen.

She grabs the bag mentioned and makes quick work of emptying her box of gold-wrapped gifts into it. She thinks she’s done pretty well, all things considered, she’s excited to see what people make of her prezzies.

On her way back to the couch she crouches down, grabs Shaw’s hair and tugs her in for a kiss, sliding her tongue into her mouth demandingly and tasting gingerbread and mulled wine.

“Mm, you taste like Christmas,” she murmurs, pressing her nose into Shaw’s warm cheek before straightening up and taking her seat again, grinning broadly at the shocked look on Shaw’s face.

She wants to fiddle with Shaw’s feet on her lap once she’s settled again, but Shaw’s not really into that, it makes her all squirmy and uncomfortable when Root casually pets her, so Root satisfies herself tugging the hem of Shaw’s jeans until they’re down over her socks properly and then just rests one hand on her foot while drinking with the other. Shaw huffs indignantly but allows it. Compromise is important.

The mulled wine is delicious, full of spices and with a rich undertone of orange, and Root happily sips at it and waits for the game to finish while Shaw mows her way through her remaining stash of gingerbread with machine like dedication, barely stopping to breathe.

Eventually Harold is pronounced the winner only seconds before there’s a knock at the door, and Shaw slides off the couch to open it. “Alright, hats and gloves, team. Morgan! Do you have the flask? Are you ready to rumble?”

“Yes ma’am,” Zoe calls back, scrambling to her feet and grabbing a shiny, silver hip flask from the bookshelf.

Everyone gets up and grabs boots and hats. Root is first out the door due to her coat being handy, while everyone else has to rummage for theirs in Narnia. Shaw follows her out after a moment and looks so fucking adorable in her black beanie that Root can’t help tugging her in for a quick kiss on the path while they wait for everyone else to tumble out into the night.

The moon peeps through the thick December clouds, but the night is dry, and cold enough that Root shoves her hands in Shaw’s coat pockets while they kiss, losing herself in the warm touch of Shaw’s soft lips and the slide of her tongue, the sharp sting of teeth in her lip.

She’s rudely yanked out of the moment by the back of her coat, and Zoe raises an eyebrow at her. “My date.”

Root snorts and raises her hands in surrender, “yep, sorry. No more kissing.”

“Until we get back,” Shaw points out, looking a little flushed, “then there is all the kissing. And the eggnog. And the sex...” She finishes with a yelp as Zoe pinches her arm through her jacket and then she shakes her head and makes her way to the taxi, climbing into the back seat.

Root decides to take the front, sliding in next to the driver who gives her a vaguely sleazy look that irritates her enough to stare out the window vacantly while everyone else clambers in and the car pulls out.

She ignores his multiple attempts to start a conversation but pays politely when they arrive. She’s very impressed with herself when she manages to resist the urge to bundle Shaw into a doorway for a quick grope after she hops out of the car, once again is shocked by the adorableness that is Shaw in a slouchy beanie.

Zoe and Shaw head straight in at a fast pace, leaving the others to ramble in after them. They’re already in the queue and a few people are behind them by the time Root, Joss and the boys get in line.

“So, they go every year?” She asks Joss as Shaw pays for her and Zoe’s skates.

“Yeah, Zoe’s mom died in our first year, right after Christmas, and she was having a really hard time with the festive season and the anniversary the year after,” Joss links arms with Root companionably while Harold and John argue about the merits of mini-donuts behind them, “so Shaw, I guess, figured out that this was a thing they used to do together, and dragged Zoe out of the house for it. She literally hadn’t left in two weeks. I dunno what went down, but it was clearly pretty intense, friends wise,” She shrugs a shoulder, “last year John asked if we could come, and Shaw said as long as it didn’t mess with her and Zoe’s new tradition, so now we all skate.”

Root nods, licking her lips and fishing her wallet out as they reach the cashier, “uh, size 7,” she hands over a twenty with her boots and gets her change back. Joss is done in a second and they take a seat on the bench, shoving their feet into figure skates and lacing them up.

The boys both get hockey skates, Shaw also has hockey skates, which doesn’t surprise Root at all now she thinks about it. She looks pretty adorable balancing confidently on them as she and Zoe head toward the ice, jostling each other and being very silly.

“Are you any good?” Root gets to her feet unsteadily, and holds onto the wall for balance while Joss stands with much greater ease.

“I’m decent. I roller bladed a lot growing up. John’s good, he used to play ice hockey, but he spends most of the time skating backwards and pulling Harold along, because that was how he persuaded him to join us in the first place. Zoe... Zoe and Shaw are very, very good.” She points out onto the rink where Zoe and Shaw are speeding around at a pace that makes Root feel a little nauseous.

“Well, I’m glad Shaw doesn’t expect me to go that fast...” She hobbles towards the ice, “any chance you want to pull me around?” Root isn’t a bad athlete, per se, she has decent hand eye coordination and strong core muscles, but she hasn’t skated for years and remembers being fairly bad at it last time she tried. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little nervous.

But ice skating is very festive and it’s not like she had competing Christmas eve plans. Last year she spent the whole evening coding with a bottle of nice red. Daizo always invites her over for his Christmas Eve videogameathon, but it’s not really her thing.

“Well, maybe if you’re really nice,” Joss smirks at her and slides onto the ice, Root gingerly following suit. The rink is brightly lit and full of laughing people, families, couples and groups of teenagers fooling around. Christmas music is playing at a low volume, and there’s a very holiday feeling in the cold air.

Root almost falls as soon as she sets her first skate on the slippery ice, her right foot shooting out from under her but Joss grabs her arm and steadies her until she gets her balance. She manages to start scooting forwards in awkward little increments, “wow, it’s been a while,” she flails her free arm for balance and Joss hides a smirk, sliding her hand down Root’s arm to take her hand, “yes, hold my hand and keep me upright, I will be yours forever,” Root mumbles as she tries not to die.

The air is bitingly cold, and people are spinning around the rink at blinding speed, Root eventually gets her balance but holds onto Joss’s hand and the boys skate past them, John behind Harold with his hands hovering near his hips. Harold is doing a pretty good job though, he probably looks better than Root, who is fairly sure she must look drunk with all the waving arm action and the tiny, scuffing strokes forward.

Joss laughs and tugs her a little, and suddenly Root gets it, her ankles straighten instead of trying to push her skates out sideways, and she pushes forward a little more strongly, until they’re going at approximately the same speed as the majority of skaters.

It’s going quite well and then Root lets out an undignified squeak and almost falls when she’s goosed as Shaw bolts past her.

Shaw cuts in front of them at an angle, spinning around fast enough to curl shavings off ice from the rink, flashes them a brilliant smile and then chases after Zoe and gives her a shove. Root can’t actually tell if they are skating or fighting, but they seem to be having fun.

She can’t take her eyes off Shaw’s competent, almost brutal movements. It reminds Root of the first time she ever saw her, sprinting down a soccer field and then getting into a brawl with a guy weighing twice what she does. Mmm, violence. Root definitely likes violence in a woman. Plus, tonight, Shaw is extra adorable in her slouchy hoodie and tight pants, her cheeks all pink from the cold, and Root watches her around the rink as she skates forward. Root likes winter Shaw, all bundled and cozy. But, ooh, she bets in summer Shaw doesn’t wear very many clothes, and that sounds nice too. And right now Shaw, boosted up on ice skates is pretty close to Root’s normal height, which has great potential...

“You have a major case of the heart eyes there, just so you know,” Joss interrupts her consideration of the practicality of fucking Shaw on ice skates, so Shaw is taller for a change of scenery. Also the balance involved would be fun, Shaw would have to stay really tense the whole time to stay upright, and making Shaw work for it pleases Root immensely.

“Urgh, sorry,” Root blinks out of her contemplation and focuses on moving her feet, “what about you, any heart eyes being made in any direction?” Joss looks sideways at her with a sort of smirk, and Root quirks an eyebrow, “I’m pretty sure that face means ‘yes’.”

“There’s a guy, on my course. He’s cute. We’ve been.. swapping notes.” Joss’s mouth tucks in at the corners in an adorable way and Root grins.

“But not spit?” She almost loses her balance, but manages to stay upright with judicious grabbing of Joss and flailing.

Once she’s back on her groove, Joss replies, “nah, not yet. I don’t really.. I wanna make sure he’s a good guy.”

“Cause you had a bad guy?” Root nudges gently, feeling like they’re bonding, and Joss doesn’t reply for a minute and then nods as they slide past a cute old couple in matching jackets.

“Yeah, there was a not-so-good guy. I’m not quite back in the saddle. John did break his arm though, so... that was pretty satisfying.” They round a corner and have to dodge around some small, hatted children who aren’t paying any attention, but get their rhythm back on the straight and wave at John and Harold who are currently on the opposite side of the rink.

Shaw and Zoe are in the cordoned off endzone, doing high speed skating with powerful stops and impossible looking shit like squatting down and lifting one leg off the floor as they mess around.

Root spares Shaw a fond grin before replying to Joss, “that sucks, I’m sorry. Let me know if you’re interested in a more virtual comeuppance,” she waggles her fingers on her free hand like she’s typing.

“Nah, he uh... left. It’s cool. Thanks though,” Joss tucks her hair behind her ear with her free hand and speeds up a bit, so Root lets it go, struggling to keep pace. Her calves are beginning to burn a little, but she’s having a really pleasant time.

They pass the rest of the skate session in companionable silence and small talk, and when the buzzer announces the rink is closing, Root is actually kinda sad. She felt like she was really getting the hang of it, and even manages to copy a skid-and-stop situation as she heads out of the rink.

“Cool moves,” Shaw breathes in her ear after spinning to a fancy halt right before Root can get through the rink door.

“Not as cool as yours, sweetie.” Root is pleased by the compliment though, and Shaw smirks, turning and hopping onto the rubber matting, heading for the shoe exchange.

“No one is as cool as me,” she announces, hip-checking Zoe and then leaning down to take her skates off. Root chooses to sit down before divesting herself of her own footwear, and her socks get damp immediately as she joins the gaggle of people waiting to hand their skates over.

“Here, you have to wipe the blades,” Zoe tugs the toe of Root’s skate and swiftly wipes it off with one of her gloves, “there you go. Thanks for lending me your NPIC.”

 

“Nuh-pick? Oh.. naked partner in crime. No problem. You guys looked like you were having a blast.”

“You looked like a drunk baby horse,” Shaw snickers, wiping her own skate blades off and tucking in the laces before handing them over.

“Yeah, well, Joss kept me upright.”

“She’s pretty cool like that. Here. I’ll swap you.” Zoe pushes Root in Shaw’s direction, “the ice was practically melting from the looks you were giving her, I’m done cockblocking you.”

“It’s not like we were gonna fuck on the rink,” Root points out reasonably, but does take the opportunity presented to grab a handful of Shaw’s ass and squeeze hard enough to make her wince.

“Uh,” the clearing of a throat draws her attention to the guy who is waiting for her skates, and she grins, offering them to him.

“Oh, sorry, here.” He takes them, blinks with a vaguely dazed expression and walks away, returning with her shoes a moment later. His eyes flick down and he flushes, and only then does she realise she still has a fistful of Shaw’s butt in her palm, and Shaw is breathing rather fast out of her nose with her eyes shut while Joss and Zoe pretend not to be paying attention.

Ah. She lets go, and Shaw sinks down on to her heels where she’d been on the balls of her feet, glaring at Root without much heat and pulling her shoes on without sitting down.

Root makes an ‘I’m sorry’ face and plops down on the bench to put her shoes on.

“I’m still bruised,” Shaw hisses, leaning over, but she doesn’t look really mad, and Root bites her lip apologetically.

“I forgot. Sorry.” She makes quick work of her laces and stands up, “forgive me?”

“Well, since you had to miss me all night... I guess. But you’re gonna make up for embarrassing me,” Shaw grins broadly, and Root relaxes, glad she didn’t actually upset her. She knows that actually Shaw gets off on a bit of exhibitionism every now and again, but Root is usually more aware of herself and what she’s doing, rather than letting herself get carried away. She blames the hat.

Shaw gives her the sexy eyes from under her lashes on the way back to the others, and Root smirks.

***

After a raucous sing along in the cab, when they get back to the casa, Joss starts getting the eggnog.

Shaw grabs Root’s hand and yanks her towards the stairs, “we may or may not come back for eggnog so don’t finish it. But don’t wait up.” 

“Uh, Happy Christmas Eve you guys!” Root calls, following Shaw up the stairs, “see you in the morning!”

* * *

“Night!” Everyone else bundles into the living room without further ado, and Root snickers, unbuttoning her shirt on the way up the stairs. Once in Shaw’s bedroom, she lets it slide off her shoulders on to the floor.

“So, making it up to you?” She can hear the purr in her own voice as she shuts the door, unbuttoning her pants, “what about you making up for ditching me all night so you can take Zoe on an adorable friends date?” she teases, licking her lips and sliding her jeans down until she can step out of them, peeling off her thick socks.

“Calling me adorable is a huge turn off,” Shaw huffs, her actions belying her words as she strips her shirt off slowly before turning around and bending over exaggeratedly while she boots up her computer.

“I wasn’t calling you adorable,” Root points out, hooking her fingers into her panties but not lowering them cause Shaw’s not looking and what’s the point in that?

Shaw flicks on Portishead and kills the main light, clicking on the small lamp by the side of the bed, “good.” She turns around, leans her hands on the edge of the desk, bites her lip and writhes slowly to the music.

Root takes the opportunity to pull her panties down, Shaw’s eyes following her hands down her thighs. Her mouth softens in desire and Root enjoys the little thrum of power, that she can make Shaw look like that, all want and stormy desire.

Root turns around to face the door, reaches back and unclips her bra before letting it drop to the ground. She hears Shaw’s intake of breath and turns, leans back against the door and trails a hand lazily down her sternum, splaying her fingers soft over her groin, “get naked.”

Shaw obeys with alacrity, pulls her bra over her head in one smooth move that shows off her flexing stomach muscles and makes Root’s blood fizz, arousal thrumming low in her belly. Shaw slides her jeans, boyshorts and socks off at the same time and stands naked, sees Root’s eyeline on her stomach and arches for her, showing off her body.

Licking her lips, Root prowls forward, opening Shaw’s bedside drawer and dragging her fingertip over the sex toys waiting in there. Shaw has a decent collection, not at the level of Root’s own, but pretty solid. And Root’s left a few toys here for convenience’s sake. “Are you on the nice list or the naughty list, Sameen?”

“I once punched a mall Santa, so I guess naughty?” Shaw has a grin in her voice, and Root smirks, biting her lip lightly as she thinks about what she wants to do with the rest of their evening.

“Well, I expect he was naughty first.” She makes a decision, pulls out a string of anal beads, a vibrating feeldoe and some lube, “I wish you had a sink in your bedroom,” she complains as she grabs Shaw’s dressing gown in preparation for a bathroom trip. “Hands and knees, end of the bed.”

She hears Shaw’s breathing catch and the bounce of the mattress as she heads out into the corridor. She takes her time washing the toys, because she likes to make Shaw wait sometimes, and when she goes back into the bedroom Shaw is ready for her, tension in the muscular lines of her body. The good kind of tension.

Root stays out of her eyeline as she pads into the room, drops the gown on the floor deliberately and slides up behind Shaw, leaning down to press a kiss into the small of her back, “miss me?”

Shaw doesn’t reply, but she does shiver under Root’s mouth and arch a little, and Root grins against her skin before standing up and running her hand down Shaw’s flank, “thought so,” Shaw’s ass is still bruised in greening, blotchy patches that bloom across her tan skin and make Root want to bite them.

She’s not big on repressing such urges, so she leans down again and digs her teeth into the tender flesh, making Shaw groan low and deep, the sound and feel of it sparking enough heat in Root that she presses two fingers against her clit in response, breathing in deeply around her mouthful.

She feels the flesh compress under her teeth, give, in that deeply erotic way that only happens when you really, really try to fucking hurt someone with your bite. It’s almost impossible to draw blood from most people just with your teeth, but it doesn’t mean Root doesn’t enjoy trying.

She holds on until Shaw’s breathing stops completely and her hands are in tight fists on the blankets and then lets go, smoothing her thumb over the vicious, purpling dents with a proud grin.

Shaw pants, her shoulders dipping with her breathing and Root scrapes her nails over one shoulder blade, “you’re so delicious,” her voice is all low and throaty, Shaw makes a little noise and wriggles just a little, but Root didn’t tell her to stay still so that’s okay, “I can’t ever resist biting you, mmm, so yummy.”

She trails her fingers down Shaw’s back, slides her thumb down her spine and pushes between her butt cheeks, “spread for me, sugar.”

Shaw whines and opens her legs, knees sliding on the fabric and bunching it up a little as she repositions.

“Elbows,” Root hums, and Shaw drops down immediately, resting her face on the blankets with her eyes closed. Root reaches around and tweaks her nipple idly while she slides the ball of her thumb over Shaw’s already dripping pussy. “So responsive, so good,” Root purrs, spreading Shaw’s slick around before slowly entering her with her finger, just to coat it. Shaw knows what’s coming and only tenses for a second when Root pulls out just to rub it over her asshole.

Root has to stop playing with Shaw’s breast to open the lube which is sad, but as soon as she’s sorted she goes back to squeezing Shaw’s nipple between now slick thumb and forefinger, making her shiver and push into the light pinches.

Root almost stops breathing as she pushes her finger into Shaw’s asshole, Shaw leaning back a little and tensing against her in the best possible way. It’s so tight and hot around Root’s digit it blows her mind, every time. She leans down and rests her forehead on the curve of Shaw’s ass, watching her hand.

Shaw makes a little breathy noise and rolls her hips, and Root grins, leaves off touching her nipple and slides her hand down Shaw’s belly, ever so slowly, feeling every curve and muscle. She grabs Shaw’s hip for a moment, pulls her into her hand a little, making her squeak, and then moves back so she can slip her hand between Shaw’s legs from the back and rub her clit.

She pushes a second finger into Shaw’s ass as her other hand makes contact, the warring sensations making Shaw gasp and shudder against her in a very pleasing way. Root’s super horny now, and wants to fuck Shaw’s brains out, but she wants her to come like this first, to feel her come apart around her fingers, so she rearranges a little and slides both her thumbs into Shaw’s pussy and rubs them against her inner walls.

Shaw clenches immediately, the gripping muscles around her fingers in Shaw’s ass and her thumbs in her pussy feel spectacular, and Root hums in satisfaction, rubbing her left hand fingers against Shaw’s clit and moving inside her, surrounded by heat and slick.

Moans spill out of Shaw faster and faster as Root fucks her, dragging her thumbs against each other, stretching Shaw out and watching, fascinated as she slides her fingers in and out of Shaw’s ass.

Her forearms start to burn a little and she redoubles her efforts, absently thinking that this is definitely the best arm physio work out they discovered and Shaw comes with a cry just as she finishes the train of thought.

Clenching muscles flutter around her fingers and thumbs, Shaw’s pulse throbs violently against the fingers by her swollen clit, and Root leans down to plant wet kisses on Shaw’s lower back, rubbing her gently through her orgasm, slowing her hands and gentling her.

She slips her right hand free, shaking it out while still working her other thumb inside Shaw’s spasming pussy.

When her muscles stop gripping at her, she pulls free as smoothly as she can, but doesn’t give Shaw any recovery time so much as pick up the anal beads and pop the first one into Shaw’s ass.

Shaw groans in protest, pulling away, but Root holds her hip with her slick hand and strokes her thumb over the curve until she relaxes, wherein she pushes the next bead inside and gives the string a little tug. By the fifth bead Shaw is pushing back and making little whining noises out of her noise, by the eighth she’s pressing her forehead against the bed and muttering, “fuck, fuck, fuck,” rhythmically as she breathes.

Root leaves her for a minute to sort out her own equipment, pops the strapless strap on into place, flicks it on to a low, pulsating setting and lines up, putting her hand on Shaw’s back so she knows to be ready. Her own pussy welcomes the penetration, clenching on the vibrating bulb inside her and making her breathing skip as she looks down at Shaw splayed out for her.

Shaw groans and spreads her legs a little further, Root nudges inside and they both move together to let her slide in until her thighs are pressed against Shaw’s. Need pulses hot and hard in Root as Shaw thumps one hand on the mattress hard, leaning on her head and the other elbow.

It takes all of Root’s self-control not to shove her down violently into the mattress, and climb ontop of her, but that would mean she can’t move the beads with her hands so instead she scrapes down Shaw’s back with vicious nails, watching the skin pale and then pinken in her path before grabbing Shaw’s shoulder as hard as she can and starting to fuck her.

She uses Shaw’s shoulder as leverage, pulling her back into her thrusts, but she hardly needs to, Shaw is doing most of the work, rocking on her knees and making tiny yelping noises every push backward.

Root fucks her until she can feel her orgasm building up in her spine, and then grabs the string of beads and starts tugging on them in rhythm. Shaw dissolves, coming almost immediately, clamping down on Root’s dick til it’s hard to move, but Root grabs her hips and fucks her through it until she’s swept away by her own, brutal orgasm.

She comes hard, the end of the toy inside her pressed against her gspot, the rubbing of the shaft against her clit and the feel of Shaw against her is a killer combo, and she grabs her own breast, arching back and milking the orgasm for as long as she can before she has to drop her hand to the bed to hold herself up, panting.

Shaw moans underneath her and she manages to pull out, groaning as she removes the feeldoe from her own, sensitive pussy. She clambers onto the bed next to Shaw and tugs her sideways so she lays down, but Shaw resists, “beads,” she pants, and Root groans, she’d totally forgotten in the aftermath of coming all over each other.

“Ready?” She wriggles round so she can see and Shaw nods, so she pulls the beads out as gently as she can without going really slowly and dragging it out. Shaw swears emphatically and possibly has another, small orgasm as the last bead pops out and Root throws the kit on the floor.

“Good job team,” Shaw mutters, crawling up the bed with exaggerated, slow movements, like she’s underwater, and Root snickers, scraping herself off the mattress and rolling towards the top of the bed.

They’re both gonna have to get up soon, get ready for bed and turn the lights off, but for now, lying in a wet heap next to each other with their shoulders pressed together, Root doesn’t feel the need to go anywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make me write more. It's science. And it's the holiday season, I probably deserve comments for stopping eating mince pies long enough to write for y'all (Nah, I ate like six mince pies writing this)!


	10. Without Intent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Christmas is upon Team Machine, but things aren't always smooth sailing. Shaw and Root have a couple of things to work out this festive season.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning** this started out as fluff and took a turn for the angsty and dramatic. Do not read unless emotionally prepared for that! Sexual programming and negotiation. Everything is turning to angst lately! My poor heart.

Shaw wakes up with a face full of Root’s hair, and her knee cozily wedged up against Root’s back. She can’t figure out why she’s awake for a moment, contented and warm, no light streaming through the window, and then a gentle double tap echoes from the wooden door of her bedroom, and she rolls over to investigate, slowly so as not to disturb Root.

There’s no more sound, and no movement from the door, but she definitely heard something, and her sleepy brain struggles to figure out what could be going on. Housemates remain the only possible explanation. She glances at Root, sprawled on her side, slender, naked limbs tangled around the blankets which she’s stolen most of, as she usually does. Shaw’s gonna have to get a second duvet at this rate. 

She wriggles out of bed and pads to the door, feeling the pleasant ache of exercise and sex burning in her muscles, stretching almost unintentionally to fully experience the twinges. It’s cold away from the small corner of duvet Shaw had managed to hold onto through the night, and her nipples contract as gooseflesh forms on her chest and arms. She shivers and yanks the door open, fully nude, daring whoever has woken her up to complain about it. She hopes it’s John.

There’s no one in the hallway, just a tray with two steaming mugs and a plate of croissants. Shaw blinks. Breakfast in bed? Breakfast in bed. Which of her ridiculous housemates has made them breakfast in bed? Probably Zoe. She frowns, glaring at the tray like it’s going to explode or something and then shrugs. Croissants are delicious, and judging from the gleaming, golden butter melting on the top of them, these ones are still hot. And if Root doesn’t wake up in the next five minutes, Shaw will get to eat them all.

***

Root wakes up to delicious smells and Shaw’s happy eating noise, but not coming from between her legs as she initially hoped for a split second with her lazy brain making all the wrong connections. She hums contentedly as she rolls over, stretching out and yawning wide enough that her eyes shut automatically. She almost falls right back asleep at the end of the yawn, but is interrupted by something warm being placed on her chest, right between her boobs. 

“Breakfast,” Shaw mumbles through her mouthful, and Root peels her eyes open to see a large croissant flaking little brown crumbs onto her bare chest.

“Uh.. thanks?” She grumbles, picking it up and looking ruefully at the mess which will no doubt fall into the bed as soon as she moves, “and what do I do about ...” she’s cut off with a squeak as Shaw leans over and laps up the mess, dabbing the crumbs from Root’s skin with her warm tongue. “I guess that is a workable solution.” 

Once she’s clean she wriggles upright and leans against the headboard, taking a nibble of her breakfast. “Happy Christmas, Shaw.”

Shaw passes her a steaming mug which Root scalds her fingers on and gives Shaw evils for, even as Shaw has her mug fully clasped in one hand with no sign of distress. So butch. Root rolls her eyes and sets her drink down on the side table as quickly as she can while Shaw smirks at her, “I totally forgot it was Christmas. Merry Christmas, Root. Not that I really celebrate it so much as am forced to participate in ridiculous rituals or face the pouty faces of my absurd housemates. But.. yeah. Merry Christmas, I guess.” 

Root rolls her eyes again, ripping little pieces of her pastry off to chew on, “you're really embracing the holiday spirit, eh?” She takes a little sip of her drink and blinks at the alcohol content. It’s like eighty percent Baileys, twenty percent hot chocolate, sending warm tendrils through her chest.

Shaw sees her face and snickers, “Christmas is a drunk holiday, Boxing Day is a wake and bake. Feel free to stay for it, we usually just watch shitty movies and complain about how we ate way, way too much. But yeah, in general, Christmas is super weird. Like, it’s a Christian thing, except atheists love it and kids think that some fat dude in a red suit is gonna bring them shit if they’re good. What about all the poor kids, do they think they’ve been bad every year? It’s fucked up, man.”

“Well, as a poor kid who never got anything for Christmas, from Santa or otherwise, I can’t say I’m a huge Christmas fan either. But as an adult... time off school, pretty lights, excessive amounts of chocolate and alcoholic beverages for breakfast... it ain’t so bad.”

“Hmm.” Shaw finishes her third croissant of the four that were on the plate, and Root snickers, passing Shaw the second half of hers. Shaw raises an eyebrow like, ‘are you sure?’ and Root nods, not super keen on eating immediately after waking up. Shaw doesn’t feel the need to ask again, stuffing the croissant in her mouth while Root sips her drink.

“I am gonna be wasted by dawn. What time is it, anyway? You set an alarm to sneak out and make breakfast?” Root wriggles down a little, pulls a corner of the blanket onto her chest and rests her hot mug on it, sighing contentedly and breathing in the steam. 

Shaw looks at her phone, “it’s just after nine. I didn’t make this. It was outside the door. Usually everyone is up by like half ten though, so we’ll roll downstairs in a bit for morning cozy and prezzies.”

“An hour and a half to kill, eh, whatever will we do?” Root leers up at Shaw, who snorts and finishes her drink before setting her mug down and starting to roughly pinch her own nipples.

“Well, you’re presumably gonna be drinking that really slowly, slow poke, so I guess I’ll just take care of myself...”

Root’s drink almost spills as she thumps it down on the bedside table before climbing on top of Shaw and batting her hands away, replacing one with her mouth and biting down. Shaw lets out a little gasp as Root’s teeth find purchase, and they wriggle down the bed together.

***

Shaw hauls her sweatpants on with a massive yawn, curls her feet into the carpet and decides she probably will want socks once she’s downstairs so grabs some from the dresser. 

Root grumbles, curled up around a pillow, naked back gleaming pale but marked with angry pink stripes from Shaw’s nails. She looks beautiful in the grey dawn light streaking through the gaps in the curtains, it makes Shaw want to climb back in and wrap around her, wedge her knee between Root's thigh and press her mouth against her neck. She shakes the urge away. 

“C’mon, Root. It’s time to get up. It’s Christmas!” Shaw leans over to pinch her side gently and is totally shocked when Root rolls over and drags Shaw on top of her at the same time. Shaw squawks as she falls, catching herself on one arm to avoid crushing Root, who just hums and bites Shaw’s shoulder.

“Sex coma.” She mumbles, nosing Shaw’s collarbone and making her let out an undignified giggle.

“Later, if you don’t just fall asleep after we eat, which you probably will. Oh, I bet that’s why Zoe made us breakfast and woke me up, so we had time to fuck before everyone else got up.”

“That’s adorable,” Root grumbles, clearly not impressed as Shaw wriggles off her and drags her by the ankles towards the end of the bed.

“Up, come on! There’ll be coffee. Not even spiked if you like...” Shaw thinks maybe a bribe will work, and leans over to bite Root’s inner thigh but gently in deference to her current state of fail. Root pets her hair gently but doesn’t otherwise respond and Shaw gives up. “Alright, well, I’m going down to make coffee. Come join when you recover your brain.” 

She glances back in the doorway, Root is already curled up again, holding Shaw's pillow against her chest. When she realises she’s just been looking at her for a minute, Shaw pulls a face and slides out into the corridor, stuffing her hands into her hoodie pocket. 

Zoe and Joss are already entangled on the sofa under a fluffy blanket, in their jammies with mugs of what smells like hazelnut coffee. “Morning, team,” Shaw unwillingly and begrudgingly allows them to drag her in and endures four seconds of enthused hugs and Merry Christmasing before escaping and padding into the kitchen. 

John is fumbling with the coffee maker, looking bleary, and Harold is sat at the kitchen table, doing something with his computer. “Happy Christmas,” Finch murmurs, giving her a quick smile, and Shaw pokes John in the lower back. 

“Yes, coffee, immediately,” She leans on the counter, feeling a little blurry from booze and sexy times, but sun is now trickling through the window pane and is warm on her back, loosening her muscles and waking her up a little. 

“Root?” John grabs a mug, almost drops it and puts it next to the two clearly waiting for him and Harold. 

“Yeah, I’ll go carry her downstairs if necessary,” Shaw snickers, scratching her belly. 

“That sounds adorabbbbble,” Zoe singsongs from the living room, and Shaw rolls her eyes. 

“It sounds butch, Zoe. You’re confused.” 

“Sure I am, Shaw. Go pick her up and sling her over your shoulder you cave-human and bring her down here. It's Home Alone and coffee time!” 

Shaw scowls, but wanders back through the living room, leaving John to deal with the hot beverage situation and flicking Zoe’s ear on the way past. Joss is leaning against her sleepily and pouts when Zoe flinches, “bad mattress,” she pokes her, and Zoe slings her arm around Joss’ shoulder, frowning at Shaw.

“Now look what you did! Poor baby JC is all grouchy!” Zoe sounds way too cheery for how sleepy everyone else is, and Shaw narrows her eyes at her on the way to the stairs.

“Who let Zoe have candy for breakfast? I can tell!”

***

Root is having a rather pleasant fuzzy dream about being cuddled by an enormous yet very cozy badger, while she herself is a shiny green snake. Abruptly the world shifts and she finds herself pressed against Shaw, scooped up in her arms, “hey?!” she complains, sleep blurring her brain, “what’s happening?” 

Shaw manhandles a shirt over her head and then bullies her into a pair of sweatpants before sliding her hands under Root’s butt and straightening up. 

Root has to fling her arms around Shaw’s shoulders to avoid being unceremoniously dropped back on the bed. 

“S’Christmas, you’re coming downstairs. You can sleep on Joss, she’s napping too,” Shaw grunts, biceps bulging under the strain of balancing Root’s larger body.

“Oh, okay,” Root relaxes, curling up in Shaw’s arms and tucking her head in, nosing against Shaw’s pulse point and making her shiver.

“Don’t do that while in transit if you want me not to drop you,” Shaw narrowly avoids the door frame and turns sideways to descend the stairs, navigates the living room door and then deposits Root rudely on the empty end of the sofa, where she immediately topples sideways and buries her face in Joss’ side. 

“Morning, Root,” Joss mumbles, tucking her arm around Root so they’re both leaning against Zoe, who moves her arm out from under Root and pets her hair, making her hum happily.

“Sleepy,” Root mumbles, trapped in a warm cozy brain and unwilling to emerge.

“S’okay.” Joss strokes her side and wriggles a little so Root can get under the blanket. 

Root hears Shaw wandering off, and a few minutes later the delicious smell of coffee permeates her brain and she sits up, blinking blurrily. 

“You look like a mole who has just emerged from a decade underground,” Shaw notes, handing her a mug and a plate of toast, “remind me to never give you booze before you eat something again,” she leans forward and tucks Root’s hair behind her ear, the brush of her fingertips sending a warm buzz through Root and resulting in a slow smile. 

“Okay,” she sips her coffee gratefully, it’s made exactly how she likes it. Shaw sits down leaning against the sofa and Harold clicks on the TV.

“So, Shaw and Root you didn’t get to vote on order because you were ... busy,” he huffs delicately, clicking on Home Alone. 

The opening credits roll, Root sips her coffee and snuggles down leaning against the chair arm, waking up slowly and munching on her buttery toast.

***

Shaw doesn’t mind that Root’s hand is in her hair, not really. She’s scratching lightly and it’s sending little shivers of pleasure down Shaw’s neck to lodge in her spine. After a little while, Root’s hand migrates downward and she rests it on the nape of Shaw’s neck, her palm warm and her fingers stroking light patterns against the side of Shaw’s throat. 

Shaw doesn’t even realise how turned on she is until she shifts in her seat and the seam of her pants press up against her pussy, startling a small intake of breath out of her and making her flinch at the pressure on her sensitive flesh. 

Root looks down at her, clearly not understanding why she’s uncomfortable and then wriggles over, pressing up against Joss’ side and patting the couch cushion, “you can fit up here, c’mon.” 

Shaw wriggles up onto the couch, slinging one of her legs over the arm and moving Root’s hand up onto the sofa back so Shaw has enough room for her shoulders without them _cuddling_. She settles back, pulling the blanket over her legs and trying to focus on the movie, hyper aware of the warmth of Root next to her, the heat of cotton-covered thigh pressed against her hip. 

After a while, Root moves her arm down like she’s uncomfortable, and ends up with her hand on Shaw’s knee, which makes her huff indignantly but Root squeezes gently and Shaw's horny enough that the touch kind of feels like foreplay, so after a protesting wiggle she allows it. 

Eventually Root’s hand snakes under the blanket and finds Shaw’s, and she’s about to yank her hand away in disgust at the very idea of holding hands while watching a movie when Root _presses_ the tips of her fingers into the centre of Shaw’s palm and the sensation pulses through her like a hot mouth pushed against her cunt without warning.

She can’t help the way her mouth drops open, she knows her eyes flutter a little, her pussy clenches on nothing, but she manages to bite back the moan that tries to jump out of her throat. Root isn’t even looking at her, doesn’t seem aware of the effect she’s having on Shaw at all as she _drags_ her fingertips against Shaw’s sensitive hand, circles them against her skin, and Shaw can’t even hear the TV any more, just the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears. 

It’s impossible to know how long Root teases her, seemingly unaware of Shaw’s growing inability to focus, or swallow the noises the feeling of Root’s fingers is creating. It’s like Root's just idly fiddling while Shaw is concentrating as hard as she can on not coming in her pants next to all of her housemates, unable to stop compressing her thighs together under the blanket. As soon as the thought that she might come crosses her mind it seems inevitable, and she almost falls off the sofa in her haste to get up.

“Root,” she hisses, heart trying to climb out of her chest.

Root just looks confused, a question on her face.

Shaw, unable to articulate and aware of the attention of her housemates, just stomps towards the stairs, skin tingling with a mixture of arousal and irritation. She hears Root get up behind her, but doesn’t look back, overly aware of her flushed face and the stickiness of her inner thighs.

She’s standing in her bedroom, trying to figure out what she’s feeling, insides in chaos, when Root slides through the door behind her, closing it and leaning against it.

“Shaw?” She sounds careful in a way she hasn’t had to for a while, and it makes Shaw angry, like she wants to break something. It’s fucking Christmas, and Root was just fucking with her in front of all her housemates, like grabbing her at the rink yesterday, and now acting like she doesn't know what she did. Like Shaw is a toy.

“I’m not a fucking toy, Root,” it seems like as good a thing to say as she can articulate through the whirl of conflicting emotions. 

“...I know you’re not, Shaw. What’s going on?” Root keeps her distance, although Shaw sees her hand twitch like she wants to reach out.

“You, with the hands.. and the fucking _hands_.” Shaw growls, hands clenched into fists at her sides.

Root takes a deep breath, her jaw tight and her face concerned, still and serious, “are you mad because we were holding hands?” 

“We weren’t holding hands, Root, you were fucking molesting me, I fucking just about came in my fucking pants...” It sounds ridiculous when Shaw says it out loud, but the feelings are still there, a torrent of twisted up, sickening threads that Shaw can’t untangle inside herself, and the flash of understanding across Root’s face looks for a split-second like it might be amusement and makes Shaw so unbelievably furious she thinks she might throw up or hit something and her knuckles creak under their own tension.

She turns around, shoulders heaving, closing her eyes and trying to wrest the rage boiling her guts back down so she can think again.

“I hate how much control you have over me,” it’s a vicious confession, and Shaw wishes she’d yelled it, but it’s too late, the words are out, and she can’t look at Root to see what the impact of them did to her. They felt like weapons when they left her lips. 

Silence fills the room like blood, and Shaw thinks that probably this is it, that she’s fucked everything up again and Root will leave now, and they’ll be done, dust. The thought makes her stomach hurt even more, but she can’t turn around, she’s locked in a body that feels violent and alien, like it belongs to someone that isn’t her.

***

Root’s veins are full of ice but her face feels hot, sore almost. She can’t quite understand what is happening, just see the brutal tension in Shaw’s body, the look on her face before she span around. Like she’d been betrayed. By Root. But she can’t work out what she’s done to make Shaw look like this, sound like this.

“Sameen,” it’s as though she’s swallowed broken glass, the word cracked and ugly with emotion she’s usually so careful to strain out of her voice. The door behind her back is the only thing keeping her upright, her legs weak with the echo of Shaw’s words, _I hate how much control you have over me_. 

That’s not right, control isn’t supposed to be _had_ , it’s given. Shaw gave it to her and Root’s pushed too hard somehow and fucked Shaw up, but she doesn’t even know what she did. They were watching the movie, Root was fiddling with Shaw’s hand, not groping her under the blankets or whispering dirty things in her ear.

“You should probably go,” Shaw’s voice sounds calm, but the lines of her body tell a different story. Root knows Shaw’s body, and she curses the fact that she doesn’t always know her head the same way. The only time Root’s ever seen Shaw close to this tense was when Martine was pointing a fucking gun at her, and Root feels sick to her stomach. 

She picks her words with every ounce of comprehension she has, “I’ll go if you want me to, but I don’t want to. I want to figure out what just happened. Okay? So if you need some time to think, I’ll wait as long as you need, but I’m not... okay with leaving. I’d rather you just tell me what you’re thinking, even if you think it doesn’t make sense right now.”

Shaw stays frozen on the spot, shoulders hunched in and knuckles white at her sides, she’s vibrating with tension. Root wants so badly to step forward, to stroke the rigidity out of her hands, to kiss her until she softens, but she can’t. Something really bad is happening with Shaw right now and Root needs to figure out what it is before they implode completely. 

Time drags out, Root can’t see a clock and has no idea how long it’s been, standing and waiting for Shaw to ease open the door to whatever issue she’s having, and then Shaw takes a deep breath, startling Root into flinching. “Yesterday, at the rink, when you grabbed me. And again, downstairs today. You just ... you just touch me and you don’t pay attention to what it does to me, and I’m... gone, I’m coming apart at the seams just being close to you and you sit there and you’re _fine_ , you’re just fine. How can you be fine when I feel like I’m going to die if you don’t touch me?” It’s impossible to pick out a specific emotion from Shaw’s voice, and Root can’t see her face, so all she has is the words, and she forces herself to play them over, to listen to every single one and think about it before she replies. 

The words drop into Root like iron ball-bearings, heavy and cold in her stomach, making her want to crumple down to the floor. She opens her mouth, says nothing, says nothing until she bites her lip and makes herself swallow the knot in her throat. “God, Shaw. I’m sorry. I didn’t...know I was doing that, making you feel like that.” she pauses, her breathing shudders, she feels like she might cry, but that would definitely make this even worse, more awful than it has suddenly become, “I never want you to feel... out of control in a way you don’t like. But Shaw, you gotta help me out... I can read your body but I can’t read your mind. You gotta talk to me if you’re feeling like that.” 

The only response is a growl that Root can’t interpret, so she takes a deep breath and plunges forward, balancing herself on a tightrope of confusion, terrified that one wrong word is going to send her tumbling over to never reach Shaw on the other side of this chasm that’s suddenly gaping between them, “I think... and let me know if I’m wrong here... that maybe you’re worried about saying no to me because you wanna be good, you wanna please me? Do you think that if you tell me you’re uncomfortable I’ll be pissed at you?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe,” it’s begrudging at best, and Root has to knot her hands around the dressing gown on the back of the door to keep herself from crossing the room and bundling Shaw onto the bed and _making_ her talk. So... maybe Shaw has a point here, with Root pushing her. She squeezes the fabric between her fingers, tangles it around her wrist hard enough to feel the pulse in her hand. Focuses. She has to fix this.

“We’ve been seeing...” she cuts herself off, corrects, treading carefully as she can, “sleeping together for a while now. Like four months, give or take. And we have quite a lot of sex. Good sex. Right?” 

“... I guess.” Root feels like it’s the best she’s going to get. She wishes Shaw would turn around so she can see her. 

“Well, it’s not that surprising you’re physically responsive to me. I am to you, too, but maybe with different stuff, because of... our respective tastes? Your body knows my body’s gonna do good things with it and you like pleasing me so you wanna do what I want... But if your head doesn’t agree, if you’re conflicted... You don’t have to listen to your body, or my body. You know that, right? The sex we have isn’t a ... a deal. It isn’t a bargain we made one time and have to stick to. We both have the complete and inalienable right to say no to anything and everything at any time, before or during. Anything.” Root hasn’t felt this at sea in a conversation with Shaw since they first started stumbling towards something a little deeper than casual sex together, and the feeling is unpleasant and corrosive in her throat. 

Her heart aches with the thought she’s hurt Shaw in some way, listened to her wrong. Misinterpreted her reactions. Just because she can _feel_ how Shaw is physically reacting to her doesn’t mean that she’s in tune with Shaw’s emotional reactions. She feels a little like she might pass out with the strength of her physical distress.

“Yeah. I know.” Shaw sounds angry now, and at least that’s familiar. “I don’t... I don’t know how.” 

“You don’t know how to say no?” Root asks, delicately, her nails digging into her palms behind her back. 

“Not... no. I mean. Less, or like... pay attention, I guess.” The relief Root feels in reaction to Shaw saying ‘not no’ is a full-body sensation. 

“Has it happened before? Or is this a new feeling?” Root probes, feeling like the ground is a little safer underfoot but still trying to breathe past the weight of concern in her chest.

“Uh, newish. I think. Maybe... four times. It just... it feels like a _lot_ when it happens, and I don’t know what to do.” Shaw’s onto sulky voice, which is much, much better, and Root feels the knot in her sternum release just a little more.  


She takes the time to think before she responds “... So I feel like there are only a couple of solutions and I’m gonna run them past you, okay?” Root manages to release her grip on the dressing gown behind her, and the blood rushes back into her fingers, leaving them tingling and sore. She straightens up, rubs the feeling back into her hands and wishes it was so easy to fix the tension stringing between her and Shaw.

Shaw nods, finally moving, unclenching her fists with slow deliberacy and leaning her hands on the desk in front of her. 

Root wraps her arms across her stomach and marshals her thoughts, “so, either I can stop touching you except for in specific circumstances that we discuss the limits of. Which would be really hard for me, but I’ll make it work if that’s what you need to happen. Or you can tell me if something gets to be too much for you, you can tap out like we do in sex, so I know you’re not okay... Or we can refuse to deal with it and probably have more fights about it and feel like shit all the time. I would prefer option two, but if you can’t do that then option one will probably end up being default, because I want to touch you right now and I’m scared to,” her voice breaks on the last word and she has to stop talking, even though she wasn’t done. 

Shaw turns around slowly, her face like a statue, Root can’t read anything on it, and it frightens her, fingertips digging painfully into her sides. “We can try option two,” Shaw says carefully, her voice studiously blank of inflection. 

“Okay. And I’ll be more aware of what I’m doing, I swear. I’m so sorry, Sameen.” 

“It’s okay. I maybe could have like... stopped you, or something.”

“Do you still want me to go?” Root asks carefully, worrying that Shaw needs some space now they’ve maybe finished fighting. 

“No. Can you... can we... I feel sick. I wanna feel good again,” Shaw hunches awkwardly, shoving her hands in her sweatpants pockets. 

Root think she knows what Shaw is asking for, to fuck until they’re not hurting any more, but the look on Shaw’s face and the twisting in her guts isn’t conducive to making each other feel good, and she sniffs, leaning her head against the door, “I don’t think... I’m not feeling very good about myself right now, Shaw. I don’t think it’s a good idea. Could we maybe do something else?”

“Like what?” Shaw’s face finally shifts, her eyebrows scrunching and a familiar look of discomfort marring her face. 

Root breathes in, “maybe you could show me how to throw a punch? You’re always saying you will.”

Shaw sniffs, takes her hands out of her pockets and rolls her shoulders. “Yeah, okay.” She turns, opens the big wardrobe door and grabs something, squatting and grunting as she drags it out, and Root is surprised into a little laugh when she sees the torso-shaped punching dummy. 

The dummy gets positioned in the middle of the room, and Shaw squares up in front of it. “Watch first, okay? Look at my feet. All good punches start in the feet and come through the hips.”

***

Forty minutes later, Shaw is sweaty, Root is dripping, and both of them seem to be feeling better. 

When Root collapses on the bed Shaw pokes her leg with her toes, “hey, get your sweaty butt off my nice sheets.”

“They’re all covered in jizz anyway,” Root complains, but she slides onto the floor and holds her arms up, “you have to carry me downstairs again.” 

“Nope, you have to get changed and move your butt. I can hear gunfire, which means they’re watching Die Hard, c’mon.” Shaw pulls her shirt over her head, takes a sniff of her armpit and shrugs philosophically. Could be worse. 

Root’s eyes trace over her stomach and then she looks away, like she’s not sure that’s okay, and Shaw huffs, pulling her pants off, “you’re allowed to check me out, Root,” she chews her lip. 

“I’m still getting my balance,” Root takes a minute to reply, but the words make sense and Shaw nods. 

“Okay. Now get up and put a clean shirt on. Die Hard.” 

Root obediently struggles to her feet and pulls off her shirt, and to her own surprise Shaw finds herself feeling a little awkward about looking at Root as well. She busies herself hauling clean sweatpants on and heads for the door. 

Root follows her a moment later, and they pad through the living room, Shaw feeling a little uncomfortable having just disappeared for like an hour on Christmas day. 

Zoe moves her feet off Joss’ lap and raises an eyebrow at her, the eyebrow raise means ‘okay?’ and Shaw nods, short and sharp. Zoe looks at her for a minute longer, and Joss just lifts up the blanket so Shaw can slide in. 

Root sits on the floor in front of the sofa, and Shaw dithers for a minute and then squeezes her shoulder gently. Root reaches up and covers her hand for a moment, and Shaw feels indescribably better as she settles back to enjoy the world’s best Christmas movie. 

When the credits roll, Harold gets up and turns on some Christmas music, “time for presents, I think?” 

“Yeah, great plan! Shaw and I are gonna make eggnog.” Zoe announces, getting to her feet and stretching tall enough that her shirt rides up and exposes her belly. Joss takes the opportunity to pinch her side and Zoe squeaks and flaps at her hand. “C’mon, Shaw.”

Begrudgingly, Shaw clambers up and carefully steps over Root, stomping into the kitchen and already irritated with Zoe meddling.

Zoe starts getting glasses down, locates a big bottle of spiced rum and heavily spikes them. “You alright, Shaw? You and Root okay?” She murmurs, her voice almost drowned out by the music. 

“Yeah, I think so. I dunno. We had some.. stuff.” Shaw mumbles, getting the eggnog out of the fridge and topping the glasses up with the creamy liquid. 

“We noticed, what with the sudden storm out. You want a second opinion?” 

Shaw relaxes a little, Zoe’s offering a backup emotional analysis, rather than assuming Shaw fucked everything up, “maybe later. I’m still...” she waves her hand at her head, and Zoe nods.

“Processing. Cool. I’m here if you need a pair of ears. Or boobs, you know, whatever.” She winks at Shaw and grabs four glasses with the ease of someone who’s worked behind a bar and heads back into the living room, Shaw sloping after her with the remaining two and hands one to Root with a lopsided grin as their fingers brush against the cold glass.

Shaw pokes her with her toe and sits down in the middle of the rug, “bag me, Harold,” she snickers as soon as she finishes her sentence. 

Zoe snorts, “risque.” 

Harold passes Shaw a canvas bag and she starts hauling gifts out and handing them around without looking at the tags, holding them up and announcing the name for the recipient to take it off her. “John! Zoe.. JC, Root, Harry, Me!” 

The paper is black, and Shaw starts opening her present regardless of the rest of the room, ripping through the fancy silver ribbon and revealing a butterfly knife which she flicks open expertly, rolls around in her hand and closes again, before looking around the room sheepishly. 

John snickers, “so... black paper is from Shaw then,” as he starts tugging at the paper. It takes him a few seconds to get through to the gift and he reveals a beautiful hunting knife with a leather sheath meant for his belt, he looks at it with his eyebrows raised, “how did you get this for twenty dollars?” 

“I know a guy,” Shaw mutters, still enamoured with her self gift, and Joss rolls her eyes.

“Those aren’t the rules, Shaw,” as she starts opening her own gift. 

“Rules are made to be broken!” Shaw snickers, watching Joss opening her present to reveal a fancy silver flashlight and Shaw grins at her confusion, “it’s a baton as well! Press the second button and flick it... carefully.” 

Joss follows the instructions and squeaks when the flashlight rapidly triples in length. She gives it an experimental swish through the air, “uh, thanks? I think... Weapons theme. Interesting.”

“What did I get?” Zoe rips through her paper and Shaw yelps, “same time as Root!” then gestures at Root to hurry up so they can both remove the paper at the same time, revealing matching mini-tasers, Root’s in black and Zoe’s in pink. “Ooh, thanks, Shaw! You’re the best.”

Root grins, flicking hers on and admiring the blue spark, “always appreciate an extension to my collection,” she winks at Shaw and Shaw wrinkles her nose in pleasure. 

“Glad you like it,” and she is, slowly feeling like they’re returning to an even keel, like maybe she didn’t lose her shit all over Root an hour ago.

They make eye contact, and Shaw feels a flash of connection that makes her blink, swallow and look away, but when she looks back at Root a second later Root’s eyes are still on her, gentle and understanding. It lights something warm in Shaw’s belly and she manages a little smile. “Finch, open yours and let’s move on!” 

Grumbling, Harold obeys, revealing a small key that Shaw eagerly points out all the functional features of: two screwdrivers, a small blade, bottle opener, teeny saw, and a wire stripper. Harold looks quite pleased and pops it right on his keyring, thanking Shaw. 

John grabs the next canvas bag, and doles out prezzies, and Shaw once again doesn’t wait for anyone to open hers. 

It’s quickly established that these presents are from Zoe, as everyone reveals a sex toy. Harold blushes profusely when he finds his package contains a vibrating cockring, John gets a buttplug, Joss a basic vibe, Root gets a riding crop, which makes her laugh out loud and Shaw’s cheeks heat when her package reveals a dildo that will fit in a harness and has a piece for her ass and a piece for her pussy. 

Zoe waves her own butt plug in the air with a giggle, “couldn’t resist, hope you enjooooy.”

The present exchange ceremony goes on fairly smoothly, Shaw gets a day trip to a theme park for dogs from Harold, a sweet new beanie from Joss, a bonsai tree from John which he takes great pleasure in explaining how to look after, and finally a set of acrylic paints from Root, who has bought everyone a hobby related gift. Shaw’s pretty pleased with her haul. 

Root coos over her new fern and announces it’s called Tara while John goes to put the dinner on, Joss giving him a hand. Then everyone else piles back onto their cozy chairs to watch the Dr Who Christmas Special at Harold’s behest. 

Shaw never knows what the fuck is going on in these specials but she curls up next to Root on the sofa and sips a delicious Bailey’s hot chocolate happily. 

Root is kinda carefully not touching her, and after a while, Shaw gets annoyed with how tense they are, how uncomfortable Root is and how aware of each other they’re being. So she picks up Root’s hand and drops it on the back of her own neck, carefully curling Root’s thumb around so it’s pressed against her carotid, sending a spark of heat through her.

Root freezes for a second, then relaxes, starts absently stroking Shaw’s throat with her thumb, and Shaw tries to manage the physical reaction her body has, the heat that coils immediately in her gut and the sensation of blood pooling in her groin. Root’s thumb digs in a little, and Shaw tenses, lust sparking through her, and she reaches out slowly, taps two fingers twice against Root’s knee and Root backs off immediately, moving her hand to the sofa behind Shaw’s head so Shaw can barely even feel the warmth of her skin. 

Gradually the desire coursing through Shaw’s veins filters back down to manageable levels, and she lets out a deep breath, catching Root watching her out of the corner of her eye. 

“Okay?” Root mouths, licking her lips nervously, and Shaw nods.

“Yeah, I’m good,” she picks up her hot chocolate and takes a sip, watching the Doctor fix something with his magic screwdriver thingy. 

Beside her, Root relaxes, tension seeping out of her until their knees are pressed together a little on the couch. Shaw pats her knee for a second and they finish the show without moving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Urgh, emotions are the worst. This made me cry. 
> 
> Comment and cheer me up!


	11. What Are Friends For?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoe is not the MVP of Team Shoot without reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning** marijuana, making shaw talk about her feelings, sleepy sex, orgasm delay, biting, zoe is my fave and I love her.
> 
> Smut marked by horizontal rule

10:31 MORGAN @ SHAW // when are you getting up I need you to body guard me! //

10:37 SHAW @ MORGAN // bodyguarding? I’m uppish //

10:39 MORGAN @ SHAW // John put all the green in the treats so I gotta go to Harper’s but her house is always full of sketchy fuckers and last time I went by myself some dickhead grabbed my ass. Come be scary for me //

10:42 SHAW @ MORGAN //k I’m just putting on pants //

10:45 MORGAN @ SHAW // what is Root doing? //

10:47 SHAW @ MORGAN // mostly complaining about the fact I am moving. She’s fine, she’ll sleep til we make her get up //

*** 

Shaw puts more thought into her outfit than usual. She wants to look intimidating because fighting an entire frat house (yes, Harper lives in a frathouse, it’s a thing) isn’t on her list of things to spend her morning doing. Hopefully a judicious glower or two paired with her MMA hoodie will keep everyone’s hands in appropriate places.

Root mumbles a complaint when Shaw tells her she’ll be back in a bit, but stays wrapped around a pillow without moving. Shaw trundles down the stairs and shoves her feet in her docs while waiting for Zoe who’s rattling around in her room. 

She opens the door to check out the weather, and it’s cold enough that she grabs a beanie. The sun is weak and thin, sparkling where it hits the glittering frost that’s formed on every blade of grass overnight. While she pokes her booted feet into the white grass, she checks her emails. 

Zoe slams the door behind her as she trundles down the steps, and gives Shaw a once over, “appreciate the bouncer-outfit. Bouncefit?” 

“That sounds like a terrible exercise class I would never go to,” Shaw points out, sloping down the path.

“Bouncefit! Get fit while you bounce! It could be trampolines though, you love trampolines. And bouncy castles. Remember that time you invaded a kid’s birthday party to go on their bouncehouse?”

“Mushrooms, man, what can you do?” Shaw snickers, shoving her hands into her pockets, and frowning as Zoe heads off the path towards the forest, “where are you going?”

“Oh, we don’t really have to go to Harper’s for weed, I lied. We’re gonna get stoned in the forbidden vale and hang out.” 

“Oh. Are you gonna try and make me talk about my _feeelings?_ ” Shaw spits the word out with disgust while turning around and Zoe laughs, grabbing her arm.

“Yeah, probably. You know me. Buuut I did bring a blanket and epic amounts of candy, so consider yourself bribed.” Zoe lets go of Shaw’s sleeve and makes puppy dog eyes.

Shaw rolls her eyes but gives up, “...fine, I will come for candy. But no promises on the actual talking.”

“You can never withstand me for long, Shawgar,” Zoe grins merrily and leads the way down a small, overgrown path, fishing a lighter out of her pocket and then carefully unrolling the side of her maroon beanie to get a joint out of its carry spot. Shaw notes that several spliffs are left in place. Zoe has come very prepared, it seems. 

“What the fuck is Shawgar?” She grumbles, kicking a stick out of the crispy mud in her path.

“Like a tiger? I dunno, man, I’m mildly baked already. Joss and I have been up since eight watching Alvin and the Chipmunks. And no, I have no idea why, it was awful.” Zoe sparks up and inhales, watching the smoke coiling through the cold air. 

“I told you, you should only watch hot people things and comedies when baked. Or both, like Wrong Turn,” Shaw takes the spliff and inhales deeply.

“You know Wrong Turn is actually a horror movie right? About hillbillies. It is literally full of murder.” They have to clamber over a horizontal tree trunk and Shaw does it in one big jump then laughs at Zoe trying to do it one leg at a time and slipping.

“Hilarious murder. With Eliza Dushku in it... it’s like partially naked Faith in the woods being hunted, it’s brilliant. If I wrote a movie I think it would be that movie,” Shaw fills her lungs again and holds it, hands the spliff back and turns down the hill towards the vale. Huge trees towering overhead cut out most of the sunlight, and it’s chilly in the shade, she wants to get under a blanket.

“...I would watch the shit out of a movie you wrote. It would just be a bunch of babes murdering people and probably having to get naked for reasons, and then boning each other,” Zoe snickers.

“Yeah, isn’t that what I just said. What Resident Evil should have been. The dream. Like Bitch Slap but again, more sex.”

“The real tragedy is that you chose to study pre-med instead of film,” Zoe points out, handing the spliff back and waving her arms around for balance as she slip and slides down the hill that leads to their favourite smoking spot. 

Shaw puts the spliff out on a convenient tree trunk and follows suit, running down the path like a gazelle because what’s the point in doing stuff slowly? She fails to halt at the bottom, kicking off a tree to absorb her remaining momentum and spins around like a ninja. Accordingly, Zoe applauds and Shaw does a little salute before padding over to the log they like to sit on. 

“Were you smart enough to bring some kind of butt protecting device?” She inquires, looking at the wet log with trepidation. 

“Fuck yeah I was! I ain’t a rookie!” Shaw’s not totally sure what accent Zoe is doing but it’s stupid. She does, however, pull an impressed face when Zoe hauls out two cushions in garbage bags and sets them on the log before sitting on one with the backpack between her feet. 

“Just a loser,” Shaw snickers and sits down on her own cushion, bouncing in place a bit and looking around. The vale is, as always, pretty awesome. The floor is all cool, thick moss and when it’s not winter there are flowers everywhere, but right now it’s really just a lot of mushroom action. It's deeply shaded, and off the beaten track, a place John discovered in his first year and subsequently showed them all, and now one of their favourite house spots to hang. 

She’s distracted from her thoughts when Zoe deposits a large Toblerone in her lap and starts opening a thermos, “wow, you really did come prepared,” Shaw is impressed. 

“Well, I figured we might be here a while. Are you baked enough or do you wanna spark that back up?” Zoe pours coffee into two insulated mugs and offers Shaw one, but Shaw waves it off, busy unwrapping her enormous chocolate treat.

“Not baked enough,” she relights the half of the joint they didn’t smoke on the walk and then takes a coffee from where it was wedged between Zoe’s thighs. 

“Wanna keep talking about hot chicks and weaponry?” Zoe inhales her coffee steam with a satisfied sigh.

The only response she gets is a mangled nightmare of drooly, coffee-melted Toblerone exposed to her when Shaw deliberately opens her mouth in Zoe’s direction. 

“I guess not, then. I’m gonna talk at you about feelings stuff, chime in whenever you like.” Zoe fishes the spliff out of Shaw’s hand and takes a drag, letting the smoke trail out of the corners of her mouth before she starts talking, “so yesterday, we were watching a movie and you got up out of the blue, bright red and totally flustered and then stormed out. Root didn’t say anything to you, so I assume either there was a physical catalyst or something had happened earlier. But since you had recently carried Root down the stairs and then cozied with us seemingly not upset, I doubt it was earlier related. So I’m gonna go ahead with physical, under the blankets type malarky” she inhales again, giving Shaw a moment to catch up.

Shaw just slouches on the log and takes a mouthful of her coffee, neither confirming or denying Zoe’s hypothesis.

“So... potentially Root molested you under the blankets, which would not be out of character for you guys, but your reaction was pretty extreme. Possible embarrassment? Although I have rarely seen you embarrassed. So based on my observations, I’m gonna say whatever it was went further than you expected or were comfortable with, and you freaked out and stormed off? How am I doing?” 

Shaw grumpily takes a mouthful of coffee and growls something that she intends to be an affirmative. Zoe catches her eyes and raises an eyebrow and so Shaw nods, trying not to pout. 

“So then your chat should have gone something like ‘hey Root, try not to molest me in front of my friends so much,’ or better yet, you could have elbowed her before it got to that point,” Zoe continues merrily, finishing the spliff and carefully burying the roach in a little hole with her foot, “but I am guessing it didn’t because you guys did not seem super okay when you came downstairs, and so now it is your turn to use your mouth words and I am happy to provide you with more drugs and wait for a while if necessary.” Zoe fishes a new spliff out of her hat and offers it to Shaw, who takes it and twiddles it around her fingers for something to do but doesn’t light it.

“Ugh, Zoe,” Shaw finishes her coffee and grabs the blanket Zoe has yet to unfold, placing it over her lap, “Root wasn’t like... doing it on purpose. It’s not like she had her hands down my pants or anything. I’m just, like... super easy right now, or whatever, I guess.” 

“Ha, we all knew that. So you’re saying like... friendly touches that were just too erotic much for you?” 

“Sorta. Yeah. Whatever.” Shaw kicks the muddy ground and lights the new joint for lack of anything better to do with her hands. 

Zoe passes her a cheese string, “well, the good news is that lots of people would kill to have that problem. I can’t remember the last time I was so overwhelmingly horny I couldn't think about anything else when I was literally having sex, let alone on a couch watching a movie, Root really revs your engine, that’s nice. Do you think maybe the fact you’re not a touchy person might be something to do with it?”

Shaw is pretty sure she just looks confused, and blows a smoke ring in Zoe’s face as a response.

“Like, how many people have you ever slept with that have touched you in a non-explictly sexual context? Cause I remember you bending Tomas’s finger back in a bar once for trying to put his arm around you, soooo...” 

Now that Shaw thinks about it, that is true. She’s fucked a lot of people, but spent time with precisely one of them prior to Root, and the sex with Tomas might have been good but it wasn’t... kinky, really. Oh, he’d pin her down and fuck her hard every now and again, but she’d never asked for more than that and he’d never offered, so their sex never really went to a super visceral place. Not like the sex with Root which is more of the kind she used to have to search out online when she didn't feel like she was functioning at full capacity without it. She grunts in acknowledgement.

“Cause, like, if you think about it, you and Root fuck like bunnies but then she sticks around afterwards, you’re probably just adjusting to being in the same place as someone you wanna fuck without actually being naked and all up in them. You’re all... Pavlovian. I bet it’ll pass.”

“You think?” Shaw sounds pathetically grateful and it annoys her so she bites a chunk off her cheesestring and Zoe rolls her eyes.

“You’re doing it wrong,” she unwraps her own cheesestring and peels a strip off with exaggerated motions, “and yeah, I do think. You could practise not banging five minutes after she touches you, which would probably help. Like mostly when she pets you you both disappear right after, or have only recently reappeared, ya know? It’s not your body’s fault you’re like a fifteen year old boy who just started getting laid.”

Shaw grumpily finishes her cheesestring the same way she started, in large bites from the top, “...it’s hard.”

“I bet it is,” Zoe deadpans with a grin, reaching out for the joint, “welcome to giving a shit about another human.”

“Ew, don’t be rude,” Shaw manages a chuckle, rubbing her hands together, “I don’t give a shit about anyone except Bear,” she jokes.

“Lies, you love me. This is established. Anyway. Do you feel better?”

“No, I hate talking to you,” Shaw gives her a lopsided grin so she knows she’s kidding and Zoe nods.

“Exactly what I like to hear, now I have a suggestion for you,” she passes Shaw the joint which has gone out.

“Should I be scared?” Shaw relights it and inhales, leaning back to look up through the leafy branches covering the vale and cutting the sky into cool, geometric patterns.

“Probably. We should walk home, you should wake Root up, say sorry for being weird yesterday and fuck each other’s brains out, because the longer you leave it the weirder it will be, and then we should all get further baked and watch Wrong Turn, because now I’m thinking about it.” Zoe starts stuffing the thermos back into the water bottle pocket of the backpack. 

“I’m not sure I was weird yesterday, but I see your point re the fucking. And Wrong Turn, but there is never a circumstance when I would not see the point of Wrong Turn. Play it at my funeral, baby,” Shaw slowly starts gathering up the blanket. 

“You probably were weird, Root is way more functional than you,” Zoe snickers, nudging her gently and narrowly avoiding a light punch to the shoulder in retaliation.

“Urgh, I hate you,” Shaw grouses, pushing the blanket into the backpack and swinging it onto her shoulders.

“Love you too, Shaw,” Zoe singsongs, tapping her hat, “J for the road?”

“Naw, I’m super baked, I keep thinking about how cool the tree branches are, and you know I’m baked when...”

“When you enjoy things, yes. Hey, maybe you’ll paint later! You painted a lot last wake and bake. It was fun to watch.” 

“I still can’t believe I forgot you were there,” Shaw starts up the steep path, digging her toes into the holes in the mud.

“You’re not that bright, my friend. Plus I was asleep when you started, I just wake up like a stealthy ninja,” Zoe just about falls on her butt but Shaw manages to grab her before she does.

“I’m pretty sure stealthy ninjas wake up super fast and stab whoever woke them up. I would say you woke up more like that enormous turtle in the Never Ending Story,” Shaw makes sure Zoe has her balance and lets her go before running up the last few feet of mud cliff onto the flat, shaking her hands in the air like a champion. 

“Fair. Harsh but fair,” Zoe stumbles over the edge and pants with her hands on her knees, so Shaw gives her a disgusted look.

“I hope you’re exaggerating. Captain Carter is not going to be pleased if you can’t run up a hill,” Shaw saunters down the path, enjoying moving and cold air in her lungs, the way the ground crunches under her heavy boots and the light speckling the forest floor. 

“I’m in shape, that was a huge hill and I’m sleepy and fat from Christmas,” Zoe complains indignantly as they wander down the path, Shaw making a point to stand on as many flat patches of frost to crack it as possible. 

“Told you you should have been coming to the gym with me. I’m in fucking killer shape right now, have you seen my abs?” Shaw is quite excited about her current state of abs, actually.

“Yeah, you’ve shown me. But also I’m pretty sure they’re mostly from your seven-nights-a-week-fuckathon rather than going to the gym...” Zoe grumbles, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

“True. I’m getting a lot of resistance training in,” Shaw snickers picking a frozen fern leaf to fiddle with.

Zoe makes a noise halfway between a laugh and a groan and nudges Shaw with her shoulder, “you know in general you’re pretty happy, right? I don’t know if you’ve noticed.” 

Shaw kicks the mud with her boot and scowls, “I’m not an idiot, Zoe.” 

“Yeah, I know. You’re also not that introspective though, so I thought I should point it out in case you were getting all screwy and thinking about doing something... rash.”

 

“You’re worried I’m gonna break up with Root because we’re having so much good sex I get turned on in inappropriate places?” Shaw pauses for a second and then replays what she said, “break it off with. Ah, fuck.” 

“...You know I’m never gonna let that go, right. Break up with her! You just tacitly admitted you’re dating her! I’m so proud!” 

“I will hit you. A lot. Where people won’t see the bruises,” Shaw threatens half-heartedly, something hot burning in her stomach, “spliff me before I break something,” she kicks a rock violently enough it leaves the ground and smashes into a tree trunk loud enough to make Zoe jump.

“Here, take this, be calm. No one heard except me, and I hereby promise to _only_ make oblique references to it in public and tease you in private, chill, I’m happy for you,” Zoe shoulder checks her gently and passes her a newly sparked joint. 

Shaw sucks in a lungful and blows it out aggressively, her stomach feels like it’s full of snakes, squirming around and making her feel tingly and angry. “Please don’t.” 

“Alright, Shaw. I won’t. It’s all good, don’t be weird, okay? Slip of the tongue. It happens to the best of us,” when Shaw glances at her out of the corner of her eye, Zoe is just ambling along, totally chill and admiring the scenery.

Shaw relaxes a little, going to pass the spliff over again but Zoe waves it away, "I am super baked, I do not need that back.” 

“Yeah, I’m actually fucked,” Shaw agrees, looking around for a convenient and accessible tree and getting distracted by a bird flying out of the bushes, “I just wanted something to do with my hands.”

“Oh, you are fucked, you’re in the ‘say everything you think’ phase, nice, tell me I’m sexy,” Zoe teases, taking the spliff and putting it out on the side of her shoe.

“You’re so sexy, Zoe,” Shaw states in a monotone, “I can barely even look directly at you, it’s like staring at the lady sun,” she snickers, feeling better.

“Imagine if we ever did fuck,” Zoe waggles her eyebrows.

“You’d die of orgasms. You sleep exclusively with men. There’s a chart,” Shaw gestures at her phone in her pocket, trying to communicate the idea of it being online somewhere.

“A chart? Mathematically proving I will die of orgasms if I slept with you guys?” Zoe sounds sceptical.

“Well, not us specifically, although I’m sure Root could come up with an algorithm cause she's a ginormous nerd, did I tell you about the desk math she was doing? But let’s just say I average about four a session and our personal best for me is eleven without napping or refuelling.” Shaw is definitely bragging but that’s okay.

“ _Eleven?!_ ” Zoe sounds equal parts impressed and sceptical. 

“Yeah, Root’s kinda pushy. In a good way. You get used to it, I was surprised too.” Shaw snickers, snapping a piece of Toblerone off the enormous bar currently wedged in her hoodie pocket and offering it to Zoe as they emerge onto the main campus path.

Zoe takes it, licks it and then answers thoughtfully, “yeah, maybe I would die. What a way to go, though. I don’t think I could physically have eleven orgasms.” She pops the chocolate in her mouth.

“Well, there is that. Obviously physiology has to be taken into account. Root rarely blacks out, where I frequently do.” Shaw munches her own piece of chocolate. 

“I wish you’d make me a sex tape,” Zoe sighs, licking her fingers. “I feel like it would be super informative.”

“We’ll give you some other porn, like we said,” Shaw offers, turning down the path to the casa. 

“Research. I like it.” Zoe snickers, rummaging for the keys in the side pocket of the bag Shaw is currently carrying.

“Well, thanks for tricking me into getting super stoned in the magic forest,” Shaw unzips her hoodie and follows Zoe through the door.

“My pleasure, thanks for giving me impossible aims in the bedroom,” Zoe replies with a grin, kicking her shoes off, “I’m gonna go spoon Joss, wake us up when you wanna watch hillbilly fun times,” she heads up the stairs.

“Will do!” Shaw has to sit down on the stairs to get her shoes off, snickering at her own inability to work laces. Eventually she manages to wedge them off and leaves the backpack and her hoodie in a pile at the base of the stairs, padding up in her thick socks. 

Root is still curled up in the bed, Shaw can see her ass peeking out from under the skewed blanket, and it makes her lick her lips, body tingling. “Rooooot,” she whispers as she enters the bedroom, shedding her clothes rapidly, “Root wake up,” once naked, she crawls into the bed and slides up as close to Root as she can. 

Root rolls over with a grumble and worms her way into Shaw’s chest, her breath hot on Shaw’s chilled breasts. “Why’re you cold?” She mumbles against Shaw’s skin. Root’s wearing jammy shorts and a soft shirt that Shaw immediately worms her hands underneath to touch her smooth skin, delighting in the sensation. 

“Been outside. Very stoned. Is it okay if I wanna fuck you?” Shaw arches against Root’s warm body, trying to press every inch of her skin against cozy, bed-warm skin. 

* * *

“Yeah, of course,” Root hums against her skin, “touch me,” She pushes back, sliding her thigh between Shaw’s and wriggling so Shaw is half on top of her, “I’ll wake up in a minute,” she’s heavy with sleep, and Shaw moves the rest of the way so she’s lying down on top of Root, her feet pressed against Root’s calf muscles and legs slotted together. 

“Okay,” Shaw licks her neck, Root tastes like sunshine, she thinks, golden and warm and good. Root groans as Shaw noses up behind her ear and inhales before sucking on her earlobe. Root doesn’t have her ears pierced, and Shaw greatly appreciates the way it means Root’s earlobes are super easy to suck on, all soft and yummy. 

She moans quietly as Root shifts underneath her, thigh muscle flexing against Shaw’s groin, sending a pleasant shiver of warmth through her. “Can I take your clothes off?” She murmurs into Root’s neck, and Root scrapes her nails down Shaw’s back.

“Mmm, yeah. Naked me,” she’s clearly still half asleep and Shaw snickers, her whole body feeling warm and happy. Maybe talking isn’t so bad if you feel better afterwards? Although it definitely could just be the weed. 

She sucks on Root’s pulse point while she uses her left hand to work Root’s shorts down her thighs, then lifts her leg to yank them down the rest of the way with her foot, “monkey toes,” Root mutters, wriggling her hips in a way that’s probably supposed to be helpful.

Shaw worms her way between Root’s legs, pushing their pussies together and making a satisfied noise before lifting her torso up to pull Root’s shirt up and out of the way, leaving it scrunched just above Root’s breasts so Shaw can run her fingers over them.

She drags her fingers over the soft, warm flesh, revelling in the way Root’s nipple hardens against her palm, one of her favourite sensations. 

Root makes a little noise in her throat and digs her fingers into Shaw’s hip, “you trying to top me, Sameen?” she sounds breathy and dazed, it makes Shaw chuckle into the curve of her jaw. 

“No, just waking you up all nicely like a good sub,” she licks the tendon standing proud on Root’s neck and wriggles down the bed, pressing her stomach into Root’s groin and pulling her tshirt further aside with her teeth before licking a teasing path around her nipple. 

“Mmm, okay,” Root arches her back, pushing her breast into Shaw’s mouth, “do you remember the first time we fucked? You told me not to tease, oh, that feels good,” she sighs it out on a breath, and Shaw glances up to see her eyes are closed and she has one hand clenched in the pillow next to her hair.

Root’s other hand reaches up to cup the back of Shaw’s head gently and then hold her against her breast, thumb stroking idle patterns.

“I remember. I thought it was gonna be vanilla-boring, just wanted you to get to the good bits,” Shaw bites Root’s nipple gently, tugging it delicately between her front teeth and Root groans and pulls her hair, “if I’d known you better I’d have said ‘please tease’,” she tenses her tummy muscles and bears down against Root who tilts her hips up and makes another little sound that Shaw wants to suck off her tongue.

When she leans up for a kiss, Root bites her lip with sharp teeth, making her hiss and her pussy clench, Root’s clearly waking up now, rolling her hips a little and sliding her hands down to grab Shaw’s ass with bruising fingers. It feels so good Shaw lets out a little moan. 

“How do you want me?” Shaw asks, suddenly feeling like although the sleepy, cozy is good, that she needs to know that they’re still okay for Root to take control after what she said, those words echoing in her head all night in a way she doesn’t understand.

“Mmm, come sit on my face, Sameen. I’m gonna touch myself while I tongue fuck you.” Root seems to be on board immediately, grabbing Shaw more firmly and pulling insistently until Shaw obediently squirms up her body, taking care to drag her pussy over as much skin as possible and enjoy the sensations until she’s poised over Root’s face. 

Root tugs a pillow out from under her head and throws it somewhere on the floor, “grab the headboard, you don’t get to come until I tell you,” she sounds gleeful, and it makes Shaw grin as well as sending twirling ribbons of arousal to dance in her groin as she obeys, wrapping her fingers slowly around the top of the wooden headboard, making a show out of it because Root’s eyes are blown and darkly focused on her hands. 

Root bites Shaw’s inner thigh without warning, it’s the first real touch near her throbbing pussy, and it sends lightning bolts of pain through Shaw’s entire body, taking everything she has not to flinch away. 

Root’s hands are gentle on her hip and ass, holding her without pressure, asking Shaw to stay still for her without words, and Shaw’s eyes roll back and her knuckles ache from how hard she squeezes the wood, but she keeps her body still, soft and waiting for Root to let go. 

It’s a really fucking serious bite and by the time her flesh is released Shaw’s entire being is focused on the radiating pain from Root’s teeth digging into her flesh. She knows the bruise will be there for weeks, an unmistakable mark of ownership that anyone who sees her in her undies will recognise, and the thought combines with the pain to make her clench and clench, her pussy aching with the need to be touched. 

Root kisses the damaged flesh gently, kisses it, sucks on the fresh bruising, sending shivers through Shaw so violently she thinks she might pass out from the strength of the softness after the hard, the gentling after the pain. Root’s hand snakes up to touch her sternum, palm flattening against her ribs, and the pressure makes Shaw realise she’s panting fast out of her nose, on the verge of hyperventilation. 

She forces her breathing to slow, Root pushes a rhythm into her breastbone for her and she follows it happily, a mess of sensations and needing Root to lead her through them. Her whole body feels like it’s covered in fire, or ice, or something too much to tolerate. 

Root presses a kiss into the spot rightrightight above her clit and Shaw chokes on her name, “Root,” she can’t trap it in her chest, and Root hums, shifts, licks the juncture of her thigh and Shaw falls forward, her head thumping into the wall, “Root, Root,” all she has left is Root’s name, she doesn’t know any other words, just Root’s name, her body losing its barriers to the world, difficult to remember where her skin is apart from where Root’s mouth is pure heat against her and then Root moves and slides her thumbs down the length of Shaw’s pussy and Shaw almost disintegrates with the single touch.

She’s heat and brightness and sparkles trapped beneath her skin and Root rubs her thumbs against her entrance, refusing to enter her, and Shaw chokes on her own breath, her hair sticking to her neck and a vortex of need coalescing in her groin. 

Root laps at her clit, once, twice, and Shaw doesn’t know if she can hold on, so needy and desperate, so open for Root and ready for her, but she can’t come until Root says she can, so she presses her forehead into the backs of her hands and shuts her eyes. 

Root’s tongue is hot and soft and flat and she licks Shaw from top to bottom, slow and steady and refusing to give her any more than that, over and over she licks, dragging Shaw’s arousal up over her clit, dipping inside her just for a split second and then up, and then away, and Shaw gasps her name, sensations swirling inside her. 

Shaw tries so hard to be good, not to push against Root, but she’s teasing so long and so hard and Shaw’s not tied to anything, can’t pull against anything except her own strength on the creaking headboard and her legs are trembling with the effort of holding still for Root’s exploration, and when Root slides her fingers inside, two, maybe three, Shaw can’t even tell, she’s spiralling out of her own body and the only connection is pleasure, she almost comes, her muscles clenching and clenching and clenching on Root’s fingers, so close to coming apart that all Shaw would have to do is let it happen but she won’t.

Root rocks her fingers inside Shaw, licks against her own knuckles, breathing in hot-cold little pants against Shaw’s oversensitive skin, and when she finally squeezes Shaw’s ass with her other hand and groans, “now, now, Shaw,” into Shaw’s pussy before sucking her clit into her soft, heated mouth Shaw comes so hard she hits the top of her head on the wall from driving forward.

Root pulls her back, eases her down into the bed and spoons up behind her, pushing her hand between Shaw’s trembling thighs and rubbing gentle, demanding patterns on her clit. Shaw’s overwhelmed and overstimulated, but holds there for Root, leans her head back against Root’s collarbone and cries out her second orgasm, choking on it and tears she doesn’t understand sting her eyes as she comes down, shaking. 

Root’s mouth is hot and wet on the back of her neck, kissing her skin and telling her she’s good and Shaw just feels too much too much too much and has to keep her eyes squeezed closed because the room is too bright and her body is locked and clenching, from fingers to toes, every millimetre of muscle and sinew straining against the bounds of her skeleton. 

She can’t name the feelings that roll over her, doesn’t even try, just lets Root hold her while her mind drifts out and out and out.

When she floats back in, Root has unfolded, her arm still under Shaw’s neck and holding her body against Root’s side, but she herself is on her back, hand working between her legs with her forehead pushed up against Shaw’s shoulderblade. 

Shaw doesn’t have enough energy to move properly, but she reaches behind her and grabs Root’s thigh, squeezing her gently and pushes her body back against her, presses her breast into Root’s hand. 

Root comes and bites Shaw’s neck, the sting making Shaw whimper and roll her hips, but Root just turns and presses full body up against Shaw and Shaw closes her eyes and wraps her hands over Root’s hands and feels them both drifting into sleep.


	12. Start As You Mean To Go On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's NYE and Team Machine is out dancing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  **content warning** packing in public, exhibitionism, kinda public sex, strapons, blowjobs, fucking in kitchens, discussions of rimjobs.
> 
> You might wanna skip this one if you are not in it for the smut

ROOT @ SHAW // I’m almost there //

SHAW @ ROOT // we’re in the coat check queue already //

ROOT @ SHAW // I’ll find you //

***

Maybe ‘I’ll find you’ was a little on the optimistic side, Root thinks as she weaves around a gaggle of drag queens loudly admiring each other’s eyelashes. The venue is packed to the brim with people in brightly coloured outfits, sparkles everywhere and throbbing club lights combining to make it difficult to see. 

She pushes her way through the double doors leading into the main room, scanning the space. To one side, a large stage currently remains empty although she knows that’s where the performance will be later. The dance floor is already heaving, and the crowd at the bar is spilling out into it meaning there’s an awkward looking group of people who are trying to dance while remaining in line. 

After a second’s thought she joins the bar queue, firing a message off to Shaw to let her know where she is. If they’re already on the dance floor it could take Root a while to find them and she would like a drink in her hand for the process. 

Her tuxedo shirt catches the spinning lights, dip-dying her in a rainbow and she people watches to pass the time while she waits. There are beautiful, be-sequinned people all around, it might be the glitteriest party she’s ever been to. Not usually much for clubbing in general, and only peripherally connected to the queer community via the kink world, this is the first major queer party she’s ever been to where very few people appear to be on leashes. 

The music is throbbing, upbeat pop, and the atmosphere is lighthearted and cheery. A masculine-looking person with slicked-back hair eyes her from the side of the bar, and Root smiles, knowing she looks hot. Black heels, black pants, white tuxedo shirt, black leather jacket in a blazer cut, and softly curling dark hair, she stands out in the crowd of bright colours. 

A warm hand skims across her lower back and she knows it’s Shaw without needing to look, something familiar in the touch. She catches the eye of the babe who was checking her out and grins at the eyebrow flick and smirk she gets back before turning to say hey to Shaw.

“You found me,” she has to lean down to talk into Shaw’s ear, even though Shaw is wearing probably five-inch heels. 

Shaw’s hair is down for once, and wavy, her eyes are done up a tad more than usual, and she’s wearing the very definition of a _little_ black dress, “you’re easy to spot. Everyone else is dancing. Wanna get shots?”

“Sure,” Root agrees, mooching forward as the line moves, “tequila?” She takes the opportunity of a little space to give Shaw a once over, “you look great.”

“You look edible,” Shaw looks her up and down with lingering eyes and then turns to the bartender, leaning over the wooden surface, “hey, two tequilas, a gin and tonic and a rum and coke,” Root grins as Shaw doesn’t even need to ask what she wants to drink, and takes advantage of Shaw facing away from her to press up against her ass.

“Brought you a present,” she murmurs in Shaw’s ear, pushing her hips against Shaw’s so the smaller woman can’t avoid noticing the hard bulge between her legs.

“I feel that,” Shaw leans back to answer, resting her head on Root’s collarbone for a moment and arching against her a little before pulling away to pay the bartender, slanting her eyes at Root in a promising way. 

Root picks up her slammer and salutes Shaw with it before tossing it back, the salt on the rim stinging her tongue. The tequila goes down easy though and she licks her lips and and bites her lime slice, “yum,” she says dryly, grabbing her gin and starting to weave her way out of the packed bar area. 

Shaw hastens after her, licking her lips clean of tequila as Root glances back and heat jumps between them as their eyes catch. 

Root deviates from her course threading around the dance floor in order to pull in against a wall, beckoning Shaw over.

Her shoulders hit the wall just as Shaw hits her front, pushing in enthusiastically and leaning up for a kiss. Shaw tastes like salt and lime when Root licks her mouth open, sliding one hand into Shaw’s hair while the other holds her drink clear of their bodies. 

Shaw’s fingers dig into her hip when she sucks on her bottom lip, grinding against the dildo and making a little whimpering noise into Root’s mouth. 

After a few long moments they pull back, both breathing heavily. Shaw’s eyes are wide and dark and her chest is flushed, “hi.”

“Hi,” Root murmurs, the club fading for a moment as she cocks her hips and feels more than hears Shaw’s intake of breath, “this okay?” 

Shaw just opens her legs a little and lifts her hips against Root’s in reply before leaning up to lick a path up Root’s throat, “if it’s okay that I wanna grind on you until I come all over your dick at midnight,” she breathes, and Root shivers, lust fizzing through her veins. 

“Uh, yeah. That’s totally okay,” she breathes, biting her lip as Shaw pushes against her again before pulling back and finding her balance, taking a mouthful of her rum and coke with a smirk. 

“Okay, let’s find the crew,” Shaw gives Root another up and down look, and Root thinks she probably looks dishevelled and a little splayed out against the wall, and then Shaw leans in and uses her body to hide the fact she grabs Root’s dick through her pants and pushes before letting her go and dancing off into the crowd.

Root almost loses sight of her completely in the time it takes to gather her wits. Ten points to Shaw, apparently. 

They find Team Machine dancing up a storm near a pillar which holds a small table around its impressive breadth and also provides a convenient spot for dumping bags and coats. Harold is leaning one elbow on the table bobbing his head to the music and looking impressively dapper in a sharp vest-tie combo while John is dancing with both Joss and Zoe, one in each hand, all of them with big smiles on their faces. 

Shaw slides up behind Joss, wrapping her arms around her stomach and whirling her away from John, leaving Root to fill the gap in and she giggles as John grabs her hand and spins her. The music pounds too loudly for conversation, but the beat is good and the atmosphere is awesome. The DJ is spinning their heart out and the drinks flow at high speed. Root even manages to drag Harold out for a dance or two. 

She steals a few good grindy sessions with Shaw although it’s not really a sexy slow dance sort of club, fortunately Shaw’s an amazing dancer and makes the beat work for her. 

Root just about dies on the spot when Shaw presses her ass against Root’s groin and gyrates in front of her, sliding her hand under Root’s hair to cup her neck. She’s wondering if it’s gonna have to be her that taps out this evening, Shaw is clearly on fire, and Root’s buzzing, alcohol and lust in equal measures making it hard not to grab Shaw by the hand and drag her to the nearest vertical surface.

When the performances start they rearrange a little so they can dance while watching the stage, and whoop in excitement as the various artists strut around above them. Most of the performers are drag artists, but there’s a couple of burlesque dancers thrown in for good measure, and the whole thing is well-streamlined so there are barely any pauses, just an exciting extra layer to the already pretty excellent vibes of the place. 

After the last performer flounces off, a big countdown clock above the stage shows that it’s eleven forty-five, and Shaw grabs Root, slipping her arms around her neck and leaning up to speak directly into her ear, “so, about that coming on your dick...” and Root grins, abandoning her drink on the table and pulling Shaw around the corner a little so they’re somewhat sheltered by the pillar.

Root wishes she hadn’t worn heels as she pulls Shaw up against her, into a kiss. Shaw's mouth is hot and eager on hers. She bites Shaw’s lip hard and runs her thumb down the side of Shaw’s throat, pressing against her artery in a way that always makes Shaw’s breathing skip and catch. Shaw groans and arches her back, grinding hard against the bulge trapped against Root’s thigh. 

Shaw’s clearly on a mission, and Root's happy to let her lead for now, so she grips Shaw’s hip and thrusts against her, barely bothering to try and look like they’re dancing any more. No one is paying any attention to them anyway, the dance floor is heaving and dark. Shaw’s hips stutter, and Root suddenly remembers that her dick can actually do magic tricks, so she lets go of Shaw with one hand, still pressing against her throat with the other. 

It takes her a few seconds to fumble for the remote in her pocket, but she finds it, clicks it, and feels the vibrations buzz through her groin in a most pleasing way. 

Her breath hitches at the sensations, and Shaw moves frantically, hips searching for more pressure. Root tightens the hand on her neck, pressing into the soft, sweat-slick skin. Shaw shudders and moans into her mouth, then Root releases the pressure on her neck and Shaw tenses against her, breaking the kiss and sinking her teeth into the meat of Root’s shoulder, hard enough to make her yelp. 

Shaw relaxes slowly, pulling her hips away and licking over the sore spot on Root’s neck while Root half-holds her up, since Shaw's legs are clearly a little on the shaky side. 

Root’s body is buzzing, lust pounding through her veins, but she doesn’t think she can come like this, needs more to push against and she doesn't think they can get away with her shoving Shaw against a wall and sliding inside her, as hot as that sounds. She clicks the dick back into stillness and forces herself to relax, takes some deep breaths while she lets Shaw recover herself. Shaw leans up for a kiss and Root hums happily into her mouth, “you good?” 

“Yeah, amazing. You?” Shaw’s breathless, dazed sounding, and Root smirks, lifting her hand to run her thumb over Shaw’s bite-swollen lower lip. The clock on the stage catches her eye and she snickers. 

“That was really fucking hot,” she murmurs, “but you did not make it to midnight,” she points at the huge numbers detailing that Shaw just came in her pants in less than nine minutes.

“I wondered why no one was counting down,” Shaw blinks sleepily up at Root and it’s too cute, “I’m not kissing you at midnight, that’s lame as fuck,” she continues, sliding her hands down Root’s front and then pulling her dress down from where it’s been mussed and hiked up. 

Root rolls her eyes, “so I was promised midnight orgasms and now I get nothing at midnight?” she teases, making sure it’s clear in her tone that she’s messing, and Shaw gathers enough energy to pinch Root’s side. 

“You’ll live. I’ll make it up to you later,” she slants her eyes and wanders around the pillar, Root following suit after rearranging her pants situation. 

While they were gone the Team has procured champagne from somewhere and Zoe eagerly passes them a glass each, “we thought you were gonna miss it! I would have drunk your champagne for you though don’t worry!” 

“Thanks, Zoe,” Root takes her drink and watches the clock with mild interest, two minutes to go. 

Shaw leans against the pillar looking a lot like she just had an orgasm, soft-faced and lazy-eyed, and Root can’t hide her smirk. Harold is whispering something to John while Joss makes the most of the last few minutes of the song playing before it starts fading out as the clock shows thirty seconds and the MC gets up on the stage to lead the crowd through the ten second countdown. 

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six,” the crowd really gets going, “five, four, three, two, one, Happy New Year!” Music booms out of the speakers and balloons fall from the sky. John and Harold are involved immediately in a very passionate kiss, and Joss grabs Root to plant one on her cheek.

“Happy New Year, Root!” She bellows, spinning around and making a grab for Shaw while Zoe slides in front of Root and wraps her arms around her, grabbing her in a big hug and laying a wet kiss right on her lips. 

Root gives her a light peck, laughing, and Zoe snickers, moving away and then pauses, raises an eyebrow and shifts her hips, clearly aware of what Root is packing. The contact jars through Root, making her lick her lips involuntarily and she wrinkles her nose in mild embarrassment before shrugging it off, cocking an eyebrow in challenge. Zoe just meets her eyes, looking amused.

“Well Happy New Year indeed,” Zoe snerks, pursing her lips, “I’d ask if that’s for me but by the look on Shaw’s face just now it was already for her,” not sure how Shaw would feel about Zoe guessing they already had a little fun on the dance floor, Root makes a face, attempting to untangle from Zoe’s arms and then Shaw sidles up, pinching Zoe’s butt and making her squeak and step away from Root.

“Get your own!” Shaw grumbles, sliding her hand around Root’s back and scratching her lower back lightly.

“Sharing is caring, Shaw,” Zoe singsongs, grabbing her champagne from the table and taking a swig, “not my fault you didn’t collect your midnight kiss.” 

Shaw looks half-irritated and half-amused, Root reckons, taking a gulp of her own champagne and deciding not to get involved, feeling a little off balance and a little too horny to function.

“Midnight kisses are stupid, and you need to rein it in, you’re like a wild baboon,” Shaw complains, leaning her hip against Root.

Zoe just flaps a hand at her, grinning cheerfully, “naw, I’m good,” she snickers and picks up the bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket on the small table, offering it towards them for a refill after topping up her own. 

Shaw makes a grumpy noise but accepts the drink and Root relaxes a little, not sure if the tension she felt was real or imagined. Also not sure if it was actual sexual tension thrumming there for a minute or just the result of her recent activity combined with Zoe messing around, like she often does. Hard to know. The sheer amount of energy Zoe puts into flirting with them is impressive, regardless of how genuine she is, but lately Root has started to feel a lot like it is real flirting. She thinks she should potentially talk to Shaw about it, but in all fairness Zoe is primarily Shaw’s friend and really Root doesn’t want to make something dramatic if it doesn’t need to be. 

They cheers each other and Joss who has been sort of hovering to one side, clearly also not wanting to engage while Zoe hit on Root and Shaw defended her territory. The boys pry their mouths away from each other for long enough to do a toast together and then the dancing starts again in earnest. 

Root dances with everyone, but she does notice that Zoe maybe dances a little closer on Root than she does with Joss. At one point Root finds herself with Shaw grinding against her front and Zoe grinding against her ass, Shaw’s hand actually holding Zoe in place and she decides that yes, she should definitely talk to Shaw about the whole thing. But it doesn’t matter for now, really, and she loses herself in the music and movement happily. 

They close the club down, filtering out into the cold with flushed faces and happy grins. Root and Shaw grab a cab back to Root’s while the rest of the Team hop in one to the Casa.

Lights flash past the cab and a hand squeezes her dick in the darkness of the back seat, sending her mind forward to what’s gonna happen when they get home, she slides her hand up Shaw’s warm thigh in return, pinching the tender skin and revelling in the small flinch she gets. 

She leans over and pushes the hair off Shaw’s neck with her thumb, trailing it deliberately over Shaw’s skin and pressing her mouth just under her ear, feeling the shiver Shaw gives as she makes contact. She noses up, inhaling the warm scent of Shaw and murmurs into her ear, “you’re gonna suck my dick for me when we get home, sweetie,” before nipping her earlobe and sitting back in her seat, smirking at the look on Shaw’s face. 

She’s not back to being completely comfortable with their interactions. In the six days since Christmas Shaw has tapped out a few times, but they're working their way towards something that makes sense for both of them, and Root’s getting better at checking in emotionally, rather than just assuming that because Shaw is clearly turned on that everything is good. 

Right now, Shaw is looking at her with heat in her eyes, her legs clenched together, and no hint of distress or negative emotion visible on her face. In fact, Root can practically feel the excitement rolling off her and it’s doing nice things to her insides. She shifts her hips and adjusts the bulge in her pants deliberately, Shaw’s eyes dropping like they’re tied to Root’s hands and her mouth opens, tongue flicking out to wet her lips, breathing catching. 

The taxi pulls to a halt and Root takes her time paying, has a little chat with the driver about the picture of his kids on the dash, and ignores Shaw squirming up next to her and tugging on her belt loop insistently. 

After stretching it out as long as she can she grins and pops her door, saying goodnight and wishing the guy a Happy New Year. Shaw presses up against her back as she clicks the fob against the electronic reader to open the door, and Root snakes her hand behind her to stroke her side before sauntering up the stairs so slowly that she’s practically stalled.

“Rooot,” Shaw hisses, halfway up, “come on,” she tramps back down, grabs Root’s hand and yanks, making her speed up. 

Root snickers and picks up the pace a little, but still not nearly as fast as Shaw would clearly like. She fiddles with the keys for a few minutes before unlocking her door and gesturing Shaw in. 

She left the fairy lights around the window on, and the apartment looks really inviting in the soft lighting. Shaw starts to kick off her shoes and Root grabs her elbow in firm fingers, “uh uh, leave them on,” she purrs, arousal throbbing insistently in her groin as she looks at Shaw, flustered and hot-cheeked, obediently rebuckling her black stiletto. 

Root leaves Shaw by the door, pads over to the counter and puts her purse down, hunting for her phone then leaning against a stool while she fiddles with it, watching Shaw surreptitiously from under her eyelashes. 

Shaw stands like she’s not sure what to do until Root beckons for her, leaning one hand on the countertop and using her phone to put some music on. 

Obediently, Shaw clicks across the floor to stand in front of Root, looking hotly unsure of herself, Root grins, slow and toothy, “on your knees, sweetie,” and Shaw gulps, swallows air and sinks down onto the hard tiles. 

Root continues to act like she’s not watching Shaw, although they both know she is, and as Shaw reaches up tentatively for Root’s belt buckle with a question on her face, Root nods once, sharply, still flicking through things on her phone. 

Shaw’s fingers are trembling a little as she unthreads Root’s belt and pulls it through the loops, pops the first button of Root’s fly and works the zip down over the bulge distorting the crotch of the pants. 

Root watches her now, putting the phone down and instead toying with Shaw’s hair, tangling it around her fingers and tugging gently. Shaw looks so good on her knees, her face soft and needy, flicking her huge eyes up to Root’s face to check she’s doing good, white teeth tugging on her lower lip as she pulls Root’s dick out and rearranges it, pushing the base tight against Root’s clit and holding it there while she bends the flexible dildo into shape. 

Root’s breath catches, stuttering in her chest at the combined sight and feeling. She has no idea how Shaw makes everything so sexy, even the practical, necessary adjustments, but every touch of Shaw’s fingers, brush of knuckles against her thighs sends tingles of heat to swirl and coil in her groin. 

She’s eager now, wanting, but Shaw’s being slow and steady, clearly on purpose. Root tugs sharply on her hair and flicks an eyebrow at her when she looks up, catching the tiny twitch at the corner of Shaw’s mouth as Shaw hides a smirk, obviously pleased she’s made Root pushier. 

Well, okay then. Root pulls harder, hard enough to shock a gasp out of Shaw and make her tense against the handhold in her hair, arching her neck back to try and absorb the pain. Shaw groans deep in her throat and Root pushes her hips forwards, nudges her dick against Shaw’s lips and holds her in place by her hair, knotted around her fingers. 

Shaw resists for a second, braces her hands on Root’s thighs and then opens her mouth, controlling the swallow as Root slides her dick past Shaw’s soft lips and keeps pushing. They’ve done this a few times now, and the last time Shaw had tapped for more, single tapped to let Root know she wasn’t being rough enough, hard enough, and this time Root has no intention of that being the case.

She rolls her hips, not really giving Shaw time to adjust, and Shaw makes a little choked noise, fingers clenching on Root’s thighs and eyes tearing up. Root strokes her thumb across Shaw’s cheekbone, down to her lips, rubs against the corner of her mouth and rolls her hips again. 

Shaw groans, it’s muffled and throaty, vibrates through the dick into Root’s clit, cranking her pleasure up a notch, and she half closes her eyes, concentrates on her memories of how hot and wet Shaw’s mouth is, how clever her tongue is, layers those memories over the visual stimulation of watching herself fucking into Shaw’s mouth. 

The handhold Root has in Shaw’s hair keeps her from being able to back away, but Root can feel Shaw’s hands on her thighs, bracing, pushing, and Shaw’s strong enough to keep her there if she wants so she doesn’t hold back, slams her hips forward and relishes the wet, muffled noises Shaw makes as she sucks her dick.

Four months ago if you’d told Root she’d be on the verge of orgasm from a strapon blowjob she’d have laughed at you, but something about the look on Shaw’s face, the pleasure in the lines of her body, the way she squeezes her thighs together desperate for something to grind against, it all swirls together and makes her feel like even the comparatively minor physical stimulation is gonna be enough to push her over if they go at it long enough. 

But she’s not feeling very patient. She drags Shaw away from her dick, pausing for long enough to admire the gleam of blood on her lower lip before Shaw licks it away as Root pulls her to her feet, spins her around and hikes her dress up, pressing her back against the counter.

Shaw cries out in surprise and pleasure, Root pushes her up onto the counter and yanks her panties down, leaving them dangling off Shaw’s right shoe as Root steps forwards, muscling Shaw back so she’s lying down on the cold surface of the breakfast bar with her legs dangling over the edge. With Root's heels on, she's at the perfect height to fuck Shaw right there. 

Root holds off long enough to drag her fingers between Shaw’s legs, just to make sure she doesn’t need lube, although to be honest she’s desperate enough that she might grab for the olive oil rather than go all the way to the bedroom, they need to start leaving lube in convenient locations around the house. But it’s not necessary anyway, Shaw is dripping, the insides of her thighs are sticky for inches and her entire pussy is swollen and slick. 

Two fingers slide home so easily Root can’t be fucked with any more foreplay so she pulls them out, lines up and pushes slowly into Shaw, her eyelids fluttering as she watches.

Shaw arches on the counter, slamming one hand back over her shoulder to grip the far edge, and Root can’t help but lean over to tangle her fingers over Shaw’s hand, weaving their fingers together against the hard stone of the countertop and using her grip as leverage to slam into Shaw, pulling back far enough that she almost slides out completely and then ramming home, the jarring pressure against her clit building and building, the tension thrumming through her. Her heels slip a little on the floor and she wriggles closer, propping herself up with one hand and pushing most of her weight down onto Shaw’s writhing body. 

Shaw cries out, hooks her leg around Root’s hips to hold her closer and presses her free hand over her eyes, lifting her hips to Root’s punishing rhythm.

“fuck, Sameen, I’m gonna... fuck, touch yourself, baby, I wanna come together,” Root gasps out, pressing her face into the crook of Shaw’s neck and biting down on the thick muscle of her trapezius. 

Shaw squirms her hand down between them, the fabric of her dress dragging and bunching against Root’s shirt, sensations sending prickles of lightning over her skin. She can feel Shaw working her fingers against her own clit, feel the back of Shaw’s hand moving against her stomach, and feel the tension stringing Shaw’s muscles as she pushes herself towards an orgasm as fast as she can, trying to catch up with Root. 

Root holds herself up with one hand, the other still tangled with Shaw’s, the marble now hot and slick under her sweaty forearm. Shaw wraps her other leg around Root as well, lifting with strong muscles so Root’s actually forced back a little as Shaw uses her abs to hold herself off the table, a low, throaty sound escaping from her as she tosses her head back. Root licks up her throat, so close to coming she can feel the heat and spark of it, trapped and struggling. 

She bites down on Shaw’s pulse point and comes, unable to hold it back any more, pounding her hips forwards hard enough to crush Shaw back to the table, but Shaw just curls up around her and shouts, her hand working frantically between them and then slowing, stilling, remaining pressed between them as they both take in huge gulps of air, chests heaving in tandem. 

Root manages to crawl off Shaw before she gets pushed, feeling the wriggle in her lover that means Shaw needs some space, needs a second. She straightens up and rakes her fingers through her messy hair and then licks her lips, still breathing irregularly, “good start to twenty sixteen, I’d say.” 

“Mphrg,” Shaw manages a garbled noise and slides off the counter, stumbling and grabbing Root for balance, “start as you mean to go on,” she mumbles, looking down at her rumpled self, “you got come on my dress.” 

“I’d say it was a team effort,” Root chuckles breathily, unbuttoning her shirt with slightly shaky fingers, discarding it on the floor and getting a glass down, filling it with water and offering it to Shaw who takes it and downs the whole thing in seconds, swiping her hand across her wet upper lip when she’s done.

“Can I take my clothes off now?” Shaw asks, leaning her hip against the counter and rolling the empty glass between her palms. 

“Yeah, and then I’m gonna stick my tongue in your ass,” Root grins happily, reaching out to take the glass off Shaw and refill it so she can also have a drink.

“You’re on a real ass kick at the moment, aren’t you?” Shaw observes, pulling her dress off over her head and then sitting on a stool to take her heels off, chucking them in the general direction of the door. 

“Hmm, maybe. I guess. You have a really great ass and I only get to bruise it for like... another week. Maybe I’m making memories,” Root gulps down some cold water gratefully and abandons the glass, leaning down to take her shoes off.

“You can still stick your tongue in my ass when soccer starts,” Shaw points out, making for the bedroom.

“Yeah, but it won’t be bruised for squeezing. So not nearly as fun,” Root follows and swats Shaw on her exposed ass, making her yelp as they head into the bedroom. 

“Well in that case, make us some memories,” Shaw snickers, looking at her still faintly bruised butt in the mirror, “you should probably spank me.”

“Probably,” Root agrees, sliding her hands around Shaw’s stomach and trailing one down to rub her clit gently, making her shiver and tremble, “but first, I’m gonna stick my tongue in your ass,” she reiterates, pointing at the bed, “elbows and knees, sweetie, grab a pillow. I’m gonna be a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a really good new year's eve ;)
> 
> I hope you did too. Happy 2016 everyone!


	13. My Patronus is a Duckling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Machine watch Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and then also Shoot bang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first half will probably not be that fun if you don't like Harry Potter a LOT. Sorry, we watched HP and my brain wrote this. 
> 
> **content warning** tacky HP pick up lines, discussions of porn, shower sex, mentions of sexual waterboarding (yeah IDK, these guys), spreader bar restraint, oral, dildos
> 
> Smut marked by horizontal rules

The Casa living room room is warm and cozy, Root is snug in her jammies on the sofa with Joss and Zoe. On the huge, wall-mounted TV the credits scroll upward and Root stretches, feeling the ache of sitting in basically the same position for hours. They’ve done three Harry Potter movies already today, due to the weather being totally awful. Prisoner of Azkaban is one of her favourite Harry Potter movies and she’s glad they stuck it out for that one, considering how bad the first two movies are, but she doesn’t think they’re gonna make it through Goblet of Fire. 

Zoe kicks her feet out over Joss’ lap and into Root’s, who moves her glass quickly enough not to spill, used to the flaily nature of Zoe-while-watching-movies now. “What would your patronus be, Joss?” 

By Root’s legs, Shaw shifts in a way that indicates discomfort to Root, and she automatically slides her hand onto Shaw’s shoulder, stroking her thumb over the top of her spine, just above her soft flannel shirt. 

Shaw’s neck muscles are tense, “didn’t we have this conversation already?” She grumbles, crossing and uncrossing her socked feet, legs stretched out in front of her.

“No, we tried, and you started talking about how Daniel Radcliffe looks like a velociraptor stuffed into a person suit, although after we saw him roll around on the floor in the Ministry, I do somewhat see your point,” Zoe stretches far enough that she can try to poke Shaw’s head with her toes, but Root catches her foot and traps it in her lap before she can make contact. Zoe huffs indignantly but subsides. Root pets her foot in reward.

“S’stupid,” Shaw gets up with tension in her body and heads for the kitchen, and after a moment the sound of violently clinking glasses is heard.

Unworried, Zoe arches comfortably against the sofa, “JC?”

“Ummm, I think my patronus would be a big cat, like a tiger or something. Maybe a snow leopard,” Joss says, “you?”

“A crocodile!” Zoe announces confidently, clearly having her answer ready to go, “I like the way they mince along like they just had their nails did, and yet are still unbelievably terrifying. Also stuffing living animals in underwater caves to drown is just plain badass. What about you, Root?” 

The Harry Potter theme is still playing quietly on the screen while the credits roll, and Root nods her head along to it absent-mindedly while she thinks about it for a moment, tucking her hair behind her ear. She settles on an answer and grins, “Shaw,” she snickers, “my patronus would be Shaw.”

“It has to be an animal, Root!” Zoe sounds very indignant, and struggles upright into a sitting position with her legs still flung haphazardly across both Joss and Root, “you can’t pick a person.” 

“I think she probably can,” John chimes in, his large hands curled around a huge mug of hot chocolate, Finch leaning between his legs, “humans are technically animals,” he points out.

“If that was the case then Harry’s patronus would be his actual dad, not Prongs. Denied. Try again,” Zoe sounds confident in her ruling and Root shrugs in reply, never having given it much thought.

“I dunno then. What’s your logic behind picking?”

“Well, we only get to see a few... Harry has Prongs cause of his dad, Aberforth has a goat because... well, he’s filthy into goat sex, dark times at Hogsmeade high, Hermione has an otter but we don’t really know why, and Ron has a dog, so I think Rowling was kind of going for their own personalities in animal form, right? What did Luna have? I think it was a hare.” Zoe sits up, waving a hand excitedly and just about taking Joss’ drink out, “so you can go ‘representative of yourself’ or ‘animal you think is awesome’ I reckon.”

Root shrugs again, “I’ll think about it and get back to you,” she thinks for a second, “I always thought my Daemon would be a fox though, so maybe that.”

“I know what your wand would be,” Shaw mooches back into the room, carrying a glass of whisky. She perches on the arm of the sofa like she’s not willing to commit to sitting comfortably, “6 3/4 inches, thick, rigid, good for charm work... Oh wait. That’s your dick,” she deadpans, looking pleased with herself.

Zoe snorts and Joss rolls her eyes, Root just smirks at her, amused, “6 3/4 inches, really?”

John leans forward on the couch and tugs Harold’s collar gently, “what would your patronus be, if it can’t be me cause Zoe is running the supreme court of appropriate patronuses? Patroni?”

Finch shifts comfortably on his bean bag, his hair dishevelled from being petted by John throughout the movie, “Bear. Bear would be my patronus, obviously. He can be your patronus too though, Shaw,” he smiles across at her, “we do share custody, I know.” 

“I wouldn’t have a patronus,” Shaw growls, suddenly rigid on the arm of the couch. When Root looks up at her in surprise, Shaw’s eyebrows are drawn in and tense, her jaw tight, “they’re made from happy memories, so I wouldn’t have one, and probably dementors wouldn’t be that problematic for me anyway,” Root tries really, really hard to keep the flash of distress off her face. She knows how much Shaw hates feeling like she’s built wrong, but is equally incapable of just playing along around her friends. From what she thinks she knows of Shaw, contentment is about as close as Shaw gets to ‘pure happiness’ and she doesn’t really connect emotions to events in the past very often anyway, extreme negatives being the exception. 

Root carefully places her hand on the arm of the couch just behind where Shaw is leaning, not touching her back, but close enough that Shaw knows her hand is there, can feel that she’s close, “I bet you would just punch a dementor right in the no-face,” she carefully keeps her tone mild, “and save all our twitchy, passed-out asses,” Shaw shifts back about an eighth of a centimetre so the fabric of her shirt brushes Root’s knuckles while she keeps talking. It might be gratitude on her face. 

Root touches her back gently and rambles on, “and I always wondered why muggleborns didn’t introduce wizards to the art of artillery. You’re telling me Arthur Weasley can make a Ford Anglia fly but no one ever worked out how to grenade the shit out of a gathering of Death Eaters?”

“You’re such a Slytherin, Root,” Joss bumps her with her shoulder, clearly trying to lighten the atmosphere, “I bet you’d have techno-mystical weaponry sorted by your third year.”

“Second year,” Root sniggers, “people would be hiring me to jinx the other students, and Shaw would be my burly, no-nonsense partner-in-crime slash body guard. Her and John would probably be beaters on their quidditch teams as well,” she grins up at Shaw who relaxes a little.

“Yeah, being a beater would be tight. John’s more of the ‘beat-off’ type though,” she makes a masturbatory gesture with her hand and John wrinkles his nose at her.

“I’m very athletic, I could be easily a beater,” he pauses, taking a sip of his drink, “and my patronus would be a duckling,” he adds after a moment and Root turns slowly to look at him. She thinks her face probably looks the same as everyone else’s; a mixture of delight and confusion.

“...a duckling,” Zoe clarifies, a giggle in her voice, “like, a baby duck?”

“Yeah,” John leans forward, propping his elbows on his knees, “nowhere does it say that you have to have an adult patronus. If Luna can have a hare, I can have a duckling. They’re cute and they make me happy, and happiness is the best weapon against dementors, so... who’s dumb now?” 

“It’s you, John. You’re dumb,” Shaw looks delighted with the news that John’s patronus would be a duckling, absolutely delighted, “dumb and brilliant. Dementors would probably bounce right off your adorable baby duckling patronus. This is why you are a Hufflepuff.”

 

“I’m clearly Gryffindor,” John sounds a little indignant.

“No, Joss is the only Gryffindor, Finch is Ravenclaw, Root and Zoe are snakey Slytherins and you and I are Hufflepuffs. Nothing shameful in that, man. Cedric was like, the best of everyone. Plus, Huff Le Puff. It’s obviously the stoner house. And badgers are badass.” 

“You’re a Hufflepuff?” Root looks up at Shaw with a grin, and Shaw nods.

“Damn straight....well, I wouldn’t be straight. Gryffindors are all serious and honourable and all that boring shit. I’m Hufflepuff with a side of Slytherin.”

“I think you mean a ‘top of Slytherin’!” Zoe quips, sounding disproportionately amused by her own joke and Joss groans, thwapping her in the side and wriggling so she’s cross-legged and Zoe is forced to bend her knees and put her feet on Joss’ thigh instead of Root’s lap.

“That was lame, Zoe, even for you. Although I concur that I would definitely be Gryffindor, side of Ravenclaw.”

 

“Slytherin works for me,” Zoe shrugs, still giggling, “side of...probably Ravenclaw as well, I guess, although honestly, those nerds,” she pokes her tongue out at Finch, “no offence.”

“Have you ever noticed that when people say ‘no offence’ it’s usually because they are saying offensive things?” Finch grumbles, sliding his glasses further up his nose and leaning back to look at John, “but I would definitely be a Ravenclaw, with a side of Hufflepuff, I’d guess.”

“The whole house thing is very subjective though, isn’t it?” Root slides her index finger under the edge of Shaw’s shirt and drags it gently over the curve of her hip, feeling the twitch in Shaw’s muscles, “I mean, taking one characteristic and saying that’s how you’re assigned forever and how everyone will judge you for the rest of your life seems very arbitrary. And I did not like them sending all the Slytherins to the dungeon when Voldy was outside Hogwarts. I would have been a great asset to the side of good, regardless of my robe colours.”

“You do look good in green and silver, though,” Shaw seems to be back on an even footing and she smirks, “but I hate to imagine the ridiculous pick up lines you would throw around all day if you actually went to Hogwarts.”

“Wanna come for a ride on my broomstick?” Zoe snickers, kneading her toes against Joss’ thigh like a cat until Joss rests her elbow firmly on one of them. 

“Is that a wand in your pocket, or are you just pleased to see me?” Joss joins in the game with a smirk.

“My name may not be Luna, but I sure know how to Lovegood,” Root waggles her eyebrows at Shaw and is rewarded by a little grin.

“I’d like to get your basilisk into my chamber of secrets,” Shaw sounds pleased with her contribution.

“I’m trying to think of something with bones and skele-gro but I’m drawing a blank,” John pouts and Finch cocks his head, thinking and then pats John’s knee.

“Are you a bottle of skele-gro? Cause you’re growing me a bone!” 

Root cracks up laughing, even though it’s not especially funny, just Harold’s face and how cute it is that he is trying to help John make Harry Potter sex jokes is totally hilarious for her. After a split second everyone else joins in, and Zoe just about falls off the sofa in mirth, “nice one, Finch.”

Shaw wriggles back surreptitiously until she’s basically just sat on Root’s hand and Root gives her butt a little squeeze as best she can.

“Did you just Petrificus Totalus me because I am feeling pretty stiff,” she leers down at Root and Root licks her lips inadvertently at the look on her face.

“Really, you guys? Harry Potter sex jokes and you’re up and running? I’m drowning in pheremones here,” Zoe grumbles.

“Oh, that reminds me, I have porn for you!” Root slides off the couch, dragging her fingers across the curve of Shaw’s ass as she does so and heading for her laptop bag, abandoned on the floor by the coffee table.

“Ooh yay, porn!” Zoe sits up excitedly and claps her hands like a kid at a birthday party, “what kind of porn?” 

Finch makes an ‘I am mildly uncomfortable’ face and gets to his feet, gathering abandoned cups to take into the kitchen. 

Root fishes out a usb stick and tosses it gently to Zoe, “well, I didn’t know what you were into, so I have supplied a variety, kinky and vanilla. It should be clearly labelled. There’s also a couple of classic lesbian movies with decent sex scenes, and all of the L Word, which, hilariously, has a girly version of Shaw in it. So that’s fun, and also a classic way to educate yourself gaily.” 

“I’m excited!” Zoe holds the usb stick up like it might be an Olympic torch or something, “I’m going to watch something right now! Suggestions?! Joss, do you wanna watch with me?”

“...No, I don’t want to watch lesbian porn with you, Zoe. Sorry. Our friendship is important to me, but you are on your own with this exploration, as I think it should be,” Joss pats Zoe’s knee seriously, “but if you have a gay crisis I will help you deal with it.” 

“I won’t,” Shaw grins, lounging against the back of the couch now, with her feet pulled up in front of her on the arm, “but I will help you pick up girls, I’m an excellent wingman, as well you know.” 

“Most of the porn on there is by Pink and White, which has actual lesbians in it, instead of straight women doing a terrible job at pretending they’re turned on,” Root wanders back over to the sofa but before she can sit down, Shaw pushes a foot into her belly gently, keeping her upright and raising an eyebrow suggestively. Root smirks, apparently it’s sexy time. “Um, try the Crash Pad series if you wanna dive straight into the porn, L Word if you want a gay series with solid amount of good sex scenes, and Bound if you wanna do a movie.” 

Shaw slides off the sofa arm and pads towards the hallway door, “good Harry Pottering, team. Let’s do Goblet tomorrow if it’s raining. And you might wanna turn some music on,” she chortles. 

“Oh man, you’re gonna fuck in the room next to me while I watch porn, you guys are the worst,” Zoe frowns, “can you at least gag her?” 

Root snickers, heading after Shaw, “use your headphones,” she winks at Zoe and slips up behind Shaw on the stairs, sliding her hands around Shaw’s hipbones and pushing her to go faster, “should I get my magic wand?” 

Shaw has her shirt off before she’s even into the bedroom, “you don’t usually ask for my opinion,” she opens her laptop up and a playlist starts as soon as it wakes up, “I need to shower if you’re planning on sticking your tongue anywhere though.”

 

“I just wanted to make a wand joke,” Root grins, “but me too, actually,” she shrugs her hoodie off and sits down in the chair to peel off her jeans and socks, “let’s go fuck in the shower.”

* * *

Shaw shoots her a half-amused, half-aroused look but obediently strips her clothes off and pulls her dressing gown on, belting it loosely enough that Root can almost still see her nipples. For some reason it’s sexier than nudity, and after yanking her own shirt off, Root moves close enough to hook her fingers through the belt and drag Shaw forwards, leaning down to kiss her. 

Shaw presses against her, arching up and licking her lips just before they make contact. She tastes faintly of whisky and Root sucks the flavour off her tongue, making Shaw moan and her fingers clench on Root’s hips. 

Root slides her hand into the dressing gown and cups Shaw’s breast, the flesh soft and supple in her palm, making her breathing hitch and her stomach squirm pleasantly. She squeezes, feeling Shaw’s intake of breath and the roll of her hips. 

When she pulls back, Shaw’s eyes are big and dark with arousal, her cheeks holding a faint flush of heat, and Root can’t resist leaning down to nip her lip between sharp teeth before pinching Shaw’s ass hard enough to make her squeak and then stepping away, heading for the bathroom, hearing Shaw’s footsteps behind her.

She clicks the shower on to an almost uncomfortably hot temperature, steam soon billowing out and filling the room as she discards her panties and bra on the tiled floor and steps into the stream, pulling the curtain half across. 

The sting of the water makes her gasp, and Shaw snickers, watching her with heated eyes. Root knows her skin is pinkening under the spray. She runs a hand deliberately down her body, pushing it between her legs and letting her eyes flutter closed while she leans her free hand against the tiles. 

Root hears Shaw huff as she steps into the bath and closes the curtain the rest of the way, shutting them in a tight space shaded in blues by the light streaming through the striped fabric. 

Shaw covers Root’s hand with her own, fingers light and delicate against the back of Root’s knuckles and Root opens her eyes, seeing Shaw watching their hands with a rapt expression.

“Think going down on me in here will waterboard you?” Root hums, tangling her fingers in Shaw’s hair and pulling her in so she can suck on her neck, the water streaming down her back.

“Only one way to find out,” Shaw arches against Root, tilting her head to expose her neck, and leaning a little to grab the body wash, unclipping it with a pop. 

Root nips at her skin, pressing against her own clit one last time and then turning her hand to grab Shaw’s, pulling them closer together, “mm, shower first,” she hands Shaw a loofah and turns around, swallowing a groan as Shaw presses a kiss against her damp shoulder blade and then starts gently scrubbing her clean. 

They take it in turns under the spray, getting overheated and then chilled, until they both try to fit under there at the same time, wet haired and snickering. As soon as Shaw’s finished rinsing the conditioner out of her hair, Root turns her around and presses her, front first against the cold tiles so she has to brace herself on her hands under the spray, leaning forward to shield her face from the violent water. 

Root hums happily and runs her water-slick hands down Shaw’s smooth skin, exploring the dips and curves of her musculature, digging blunt fingernails into the hollows of Shaw’s hips and pulling her ass back against Root’s groin. 

She bites down on the juncture of Shaw’s neck and shoulder hard enough to make Shaw cry out softly, the sound echoing through the tiled room. The water is hot and hard against Root’s shoulders as she curves forwards, protecting Shaw with her body and slipping one hand down the planes of her abdomen to push into the damp curls between her legs. 

Shaw’s foot slips a little, and she shivers, bracing her legs as wide as they can go in the width of the bath, letting Root explore slowly even though she clearly wants to push into her touch. 

Root licks up Shaw’s wet neck as she runs her fingertips as far as she can reach, Shaw’s pussy hot to the touch even compared to the water pounding down on them. 

It makes Root feel like she’s in a tropical rainstorm, the water against her lips as she mouths on Shaw’s pulse point, the steam and heat of the room. Shaw shudders under her hand as she traps her clit between two fingers, pushing down and dragging up again, slowly, teasing. 

Shaw crooks her elbows, resting her head against the cold tiles in front of her, bent down at the waist and breathing in hitching little gasps as Root touches her. 

Root shuffles back a little, makes space for her other hand and slides it between Shaw’s legs from behind, pushing her thumb straight into the gripping heat of Shaw’s cunt and feeling her own pussy clench in response, a visceral reaction. 

The fingers of both hands now pressed against Shaw’s clit, she works them against each other, pulling the hood back and pressing her palm into Shaw’s pubic bone to hold her still while rubbing over her clit with slow circles and flexing her thumb inside her. 

Shaw’s head knocks against the wall, her leg jerking, and Root braces her a little with her knee, wary in case Shaw falls, speeding her rhythm up until Shaw cries out, knee buckling as she comes on Root’s fingers in a rush of warmth and tightness. 

A faint sound catches her attention from the door, and with irritation she realises someone is rapping on the wood, clearly wanting to use the bathroom. Well, they can wait a few more minutes.

Root grins in pleasure, her own arousal a dizzying, heady elixir in her blood, feeling Shaw fluttering around her thumb. She gentles her through it until she feels her muscles relaxing, then pinches her clit hard and bites down on Shaw’s shoulder blade viciously. 

She crowds Shaw forwards, pushing her against the wall, absorbing the shudders that rock through Shaw as a second orgasm hits her before she’s fully finished the first, sending her full body weight down onto Root’s hands so she has to wedge her leg between Shaw’s to keep them from crumpling into a heap. 

Shaw makes a whimpering, choking noise, and Root works her thumb out of her pussy as carefully as she can without dropping Shaw on her ass, and helps the smaller girl to get her balance back, stroking soothing hands down her wet flanks and leaning forward to click the shower off. 

Shaw gasps for breath, squirming upright and turning around, pushing against Root’s body, “I thought you were gonna waterboard me,” she grumbles, sucking on Root’s collarbone as soon as she’s finished speaking, still breathing rapidly with her stomach muscles skipping. 

“Someone knocked like five minutes ago,” Root slips her arms around Shaw and grabs her ass, “I can waterboard you when everyone’s out, or at my place.”

“S’not fair, Finch and John get their own bathroom,” Shaw complains, pulling back and climbing out of the bath on shaky legs.

“You get a blacklight and the biggest windows. Plus boys shed pubes like nobody’s business. You win some you lose some,” Root points out philosophically, following Shaw onto the bathmat and grabbing them a towel each, wrapping hers around her chest and scooping her bra and panties off the floor. 

Shaw looks a little pouty as she follows suit, picking her dressing down up and unlocking the bathroom door after checking Root is covered. 

Joss rolls her eyes at them from the corridor before slipping into the bathroom, “if you’d given me a heads up I would have taken my toothbrush out before you got started,” she states dryly.

“Our bad,” Root hustles Shaw out of the bathroom, shunting her in the direction of the bedroom, “won’t happen again.” 

“Hmm, I’m sure,” Joss doesn’t sound that annoyed, more mildly exasperated, and Root flashes her a grin over her shoulder.

“Sorry!” She drops her towel as soon as she’s in the bedroom, shutting the door behind her and looking at Shaw who’s already splayed out on the bed, hair tangled wetly over the pillows. Root runs her fingers through her own hair briefly, she’s definitely going to have to wear a hat tomorrow since there is no way she’s dealing with this mess now, “alright, sweetie, off the bed. Come kneel down here at the end for me,” she points at a spot on the floor, and Shaw slides forward immediately, dropping off the bed and kneeling where Root indicates.

Root grins as she grabs her backpack off the floor and pulls a short spreader bar out, waving it at Shaw and enjoying the look on her face as she processes what it is, “maybe this will make up for the lack of waterboarding today, turn around to face the bed.” 

Shaw gulps and wriggles around, her fingers twitching as she lays them on her thighs and Root slides up behind her, “up,” she yanks on Shaw’s hair gently to pull her up to a vertical kneel instead of sat on her own thighs, and taps her legs apart until she’s satisfied, leaving Shaw to hold herself up while she fiddles with the cuffs on the bar. 

Shaw lets out a throaty moan as the leather slides around her thigh, and Root wiggles it until she’s satisfied Shaw won’t be able to get any sensation against her pussy, leaving her exposed and open. She cuffs the other leg, yanks on the bar holding her thighs apart just for fun, making Shaw let out a little choked noise of pleasure before climbing onto the bed, facing Shaw and leaning back on one elbow to look at her.

Shaw’s eyes are closed, she’s breathing erratically and her chest is delightfully pink. White teeth grip her lower lip and her jaw is clenching rhythmically, “you’re so fucking hot, Shaw. I don’t think you have any idea how good you look like this, all desperate and frantic, so worked up even though you just came,” Root murmurs, seeing her words hitting Shaw and cranking her up even further, stomach muscles and thighs clenching uselessly. 

Root slides her hand down her tummy, trails her fingers through her own wetness, swirling it around her entrance and groaning as she pushes into herself slowly, swollen flesh welcoming the pressure. 

She fucks herself for a moment, deliberately letting little noises spill out of her, waiting for Shaw’s eyes to open and fix on her hand, and then watching the emotions dance across Shaw’s face like light on water, eagerness, arousal, pure, raw need, submission, mmm, Root grins, pulls her fingers out and offers them to Shaw who wriggles forwards, eagerly sucking them into her hot mouth. 

The view makes Root wish she’d tied Shaw’s arms behind her so she could barely balance, and she makes a mental note to put some hooks into the beam in her kitchen for some predicament bondage fun at some point in the future. 

For now though she just lets the feeling of Shaw’s tongue rolling over her fingers overtake her, making her hips shift against the bed as the sensation makes her clench with desire. 

Instead of telling Shaw what to do, she withdraws her fingers, rubbing the pads over Shaw’s full lower lip for a moment before sliding forwards a little and tangling her hand in Shaw’s hair, yanking her forward with unmistakable intent. 

They both groan as Shaw makes contact, tongue first, licking Root from bottom to top and then pushing her tongue inside, sucking Root’s pussy lips into her mouth at the same time, pressing her face hard against Root’s eager hip movements. 

“Fuck me, Sameen,” Root wishes it was more of a command than a moan, but Shaw doesn’t seem to mind, running her hands up Root’s thighs and using her thumbs to spread her apart so she can get deeper, massaging with her tongue until Root’s legs are trembling and her body writhes on the mattress.

“Fingers, lover,” Root bites her lip and drives her hips up to meet Shaw’s obedient thrust, filling her beautifully and sending fire sparking through every fibre of her. 

Shaw rocks her fingers into Root, licks up smoothly and flashes her tongue over Root’s clit gently, letting her climb until Root is clenching on her with every thrust, desperately trying to wriggle closer and then she scrapes her teeth over Root’s hood and sucks hard and Root is coming apart in her mouth, her orgasm hot and fast, leaving her gasping and pulling away. 

Shaw slides out, holds her thigh in a damp hand, leans her head against the other thigh and blows a cool stream of air against Root’s still twitching pussy, making her gasp and grab Shaw’s hair, yanking her back. 

Root stays there, lying on her back, playing with Shaw’s hair until Shaw whimpers and presses a wet, open mouthed kiss against her thigh muscle, clearly asking for permission to move. 

“Can you undo them?” Root wriggles back a little, covering her pussy with a protective hand and relaxing into the bed covers.

“I think so,” Shaw murmurs, and there are a few noises before her voice comes again, “should I stay here?” She sounds unsure, and Root rouses herself a little.

“No, baby. Grab the swirly dildo and come up here with me, I’ll take care of you,” she half opens her eyes and sees the flash of relief on Shaw’s face. She rolls onto her side with uncoordinated limbs while Shaw grabs the dick in question and rolls a condom on it, clearly too lazy to go to the bathroom and wash it. 

Root pats the bed beside her and holds her hand out for the dick, and Shaw hops onto the mattress with alacrity, spreading her legs and handing Root the dildo. Root wriggles in and leans her head on Shaw’s chest, trails the dick down her stomach. 

She takes her time, watching Shaw’s muscles clenching and skipping in the dildo’s path before sliding it down between Shaw’s legs and pushing the head of it against Shaw’s clit. 

Shaw moans and cocks her hips, and the dildo slides into her so easily it takes Root a moment to realise and catch up. She pushes it deeper, twisting her wrist and mouthing against the side of Shaw’s breast as she inhales deeply, her hand clenching in the blankets.

“Touch yourself while I fuck you, Sameen,” Root lazily commands, pushing the dick harder into Shaw, pressing her knuckles against Shaw’s entrance and rocking her hand back and forth a little, surprising a little moan out of Shaw. 

Shaw slips her hand down to brush against Root’s and then up, inhaling in a shudder when her fingers make contact. Root watches her forearm muscles working as she slides the dildo in and out gently until Shaw tenses, coiling up, heels drumming on the mattress and she chokes on Root’s name as she comes. 

Root pushes the dick in and out a few more times for good measure, until Shaw’s breathing evens out and then she slips it clear, throwing it on the floor, condom and all, and rubbing Shaw’s tummy gently. 

“Mmm,” Shaw mumbles, rolling a little to push her face against Root’s like a cat, nudging for affection.

“Mmm,” Root agrees, slipping her arm over Shaw and closing her eyes, feeling Shaw fading into sleep, her whole body going limp and relaxing against Root. 

Root doesn’t bother getting up to do the lights or the music, just lets sleep take her down, leaving everything else to be dealt with after they nap.


	14. Did You Just Quote Tenacious D At Me?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a hot mess. Shoot fuck, Zoe watches Bound, Shoot negotiate, and then fuck some more. Smut, non-stressful negotiations and jokes, is what I'm saying.
> 
> Skip if you're not in it for the smut. You could read the texting from Zoe if you wanted though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So last night [Swu](http://archiveofourown.org/users/swu/pseuds/swu) and I co-watched Bound purely because I super wanted Zoe to live tweet it at Root and couldn't do it without a rewatch. So we watched and messaged each other and it was just fucking ridiculous and brilliant. Anyway, this chapter is a cluster fuck and I hope it is at least a bit funny because I found it HILARIOUS but honestly if you don't that makes perfect sense and I am sorry. :D 
> 
> You should definitely watch Bound with Zoe's live tweet up on your phone, I feel like it will improve the situation immensely. Also if you start at 7:16 it will be TIME ACCURATE I KID YOU NOT. 
> 
> Also, title and some later lyrics from Tenacious D, Fuck Her Gently

Root trails her hand idly across the crest of Shaw’s hip, admiring the scattered pink welts she left there last night in the shower. 

Shaw shivers under her fingers and sleepily blinks her eyes open, pillow creases streaking her cheek, “are you getting up?” 

“I should, though staying here with you would be a lot more fun. I gotta do some work. Want me to go downstairs?” Root strokes the curve of Shaw’s ass making her mumble and lift, pushing into Root’s hand.

“Mmm, no, stay.” Shaw squirms and lets her legs fall open, giving Root better access. She’s all tousled and Root can see teeth marks stamped in the meat of Shaw’s shoulder. It’s a good look. She presses her mouth to Shaw’s bicep, kisses the skin lightly, “You’re turning me on,” Shaw murmurs, stretching.

Root wriggles closer, slings her knee over Shaw’s leg to hold her down and worms her fingers into the tight, warm cleft of Shaw’s thighs, “oh, that sounds terrible. Can’t have that, can we?” She hums, leaning down to press her mouth against the as-yet-invisible bruising beneath the pink crescents on Shaw’s shoulder blade, making her hiss. 

Shaw’s centre is silky soft against Root’s fingertips and Shaw’s breathing hitches as she presses her face into the pillow. Root grins against her back, sucking on the mark she made and plastering her body against Shaw’s side, rocking gently against the warm curve of Shaw’s hip, “if you come are you just gonna go back to sleep?” 

“Uh, god, probably,” Shaw mumbles, bending her unpinned leg and trying to push back into Root’s hand. Root brings her hand up to her mouth, wets her fingers and then pushes back between Shaw's legs. She traces around Shaw's entrance gently and pushes in with her middle finger. Shaw tenses and swallows a little noise as her muscles grip down onto the intrusion, “oh, fuck, that feels so good. Can you... oh,” she trails off, and Root lifts up a little, so she can turn her hand over without pulling out.

“Can I...?” She urges as Shaw pushes her hips down against the mattress.

Shaw mumbles something Root can’t make out and she leans over, nosing against Shaw’s neck and nipping her flesh lightly making Shaw squeak and repeat herself, “Will... Will you be gentle with me? Please? I’m sleepy.” She sounds almost embarrassed, and Root feels something warm curling in her stomach, matching the smile that spreads over her face.

“Yeah, sweetie. Of course I’ll be gentle with you,” she hums, rearranging a little so while she’s still pressed against Shaw’s back and side she’s not pushing down, not holding her there with force, more of a cuddle than a trap. Shaw relaxes under her, cocks her hips back and opens her legs a little more. 

Root pulls out, trails her fingertips around Shaw’s pussy, exploring all the folds and valleys, feeling Shaw’s arousal welling up, “you feel so good, Sameen. So soft, I could touch you all day,” Shaw moans quietly.

Root can’t see Shaw’s face but her back is smooth and relaxed, her hips shifting gently, and suddenly Root wants to taste her, can’t imagine another second without getting her mouth up against that delicate flesh and she trails her hand back, slides across her curve of Shaw’s ass and tugs gently on her hip, “roll over for me, baby.”

Shaw keeps her eyes closed as she obeys Root’s hands, Root deliberately being slow and kind. She avoids pressing into the remnants of bruising that still dapple Shaw’s hips and thighs from their various activities, smooths her palms across Shaw’s skin like she’s fragile, like she could break in half at any moment. 

The blankets are in the way, so Root tugs them aside, baring Shaw’s body for her hungry eyes. She draws her index finger slowly down Shaw’s hipbone, following the curve of muscle and tracing through the top of her pubic hair. 

A little sigh squeezes out of Shaw and Root wriggles down the bed, urging Shaw’s legs apart and settling between them on her stomach, feet dangling off the edge of the bed into space. She looks up, Shaw has her fingers tangled around each other, hands above her head, her eyes squeezed tightly shut and her lower lip trapped between white teeth. 

Root licks her lips and then presses a kiss to Shaw’s hipbone, watching her stomach muscles jump. She tastes warmth and the faint echo of salt. The early morning light is streaming around Shaw’s thick curtains, lighting the room up in streaks of dancing dust motes. They cut across the bed, across Shaw, in thick, bright rectangles that make Root want to trace them with her mouth. Shaw shifts and arcs her hips upwards, and Root grins against her skin, enjoying the opportunity to indulge herself gently for a change of pace. 

She can smell Shaw’s arousal, tangy and potent, and it’s making her mouth water, reminding her of the purpose of rearranging Shaw in the first place. She sucks a path down Shaw’s hipbone, then repeats on the other side, making Shaw whimper quietly, and then relents. 

Root inhales deeply as she presses her mouth against Shaw’s pussy, nudging her way in with a soft, unhurried tongue. Flavour bursts against her taste buds and she hums in approval, taking long, slow licks at Shaw’s entrance and spreading her arousal around, working her tongue deeper. 

Shaw’s fingers are knotted tightly above her head, squeezing rhythmically like she’s dying for something to hold on to, to ground her, and Root pulls back to murmur, “you can touch me, darlin’, whatever you want,” and Shaw brings her hands down so fast she almost hits Root right in the face, wrapping one hand over her shoulder and sliding the other into Root’s hair, lifting her hips up and tugging gently. 

Root turns enough to press a kiss to the inside of Shaw’s wrist and then ducks her head, returning to her earlier occupation. Shaw opens her legs further, shifts and grinds slowly underneath her mouth as Root gently guides her towards an orgasm. 

The room fills with the sound of Root’s muffled, wet breathing and Shaw’s quiet gasps, the soft rustling of sheets under their bodies. Root leans on her elbow and works a single finger smoothly into Shaw’s pussy, slowly and carefully, rubbing around her entrance and further in, taking her time and smiling against her clit at Shaw’s needy little hip tilts. 

She has two fingers inside, working her gspot gently, and a mouthful of soft flesh when Shaw comes, an almost silent orgasm that tightens her muscles on Root’s fingers and curls her body up, mouth working soundlessly and eyes still squeezed closed. 

Shaw relaxes like she’s melting, tension seeping out of her and leaving her soft and malleable. Root plants a last, light kiss against her clit before sitting up, stroking Shaw’s muscular thighs as she whimpers and rolls sideways, dragging the blankets between her legs and snuggling down. 

“Do you need me?” Shaw mumbles, looking like she’s almost asleep again already, and Root grins, it’s basically the cutest she has ever seen Shaw, all sleepy and kittenish. She wipes her chin and shifts so she can slide off the bed.

“No, darlin’, it’s okay. Go back to sleep,” she catches sight of herself in the mirror, a fond, open look on her face and pale pink marks on her shoulder from Shaw’s fingers. It surprises her into a grin, and she leans down to press a kiss to the back of Shaw’s neck, making her mutter something before Root slips away from the bed, locates shorts and a tshirt and pulls them on then heads to the bathroom.

Once she’s done dealing with her morning situation she slips quietly back into Shaw’s room and sits down at the desk. 

She mutes her computer before it boots, and after spending a few minutes on her social media she rouses the energy to start going through her project files, reading and making notes to herself quietly.

Shaw’s breathing has evened into deep, sleeping huffs, and Root repeatedly finds herself looking over at her naked back before she manages to concentrate properly. 

She gets maybe an hour of work done before needing a break. Her phone is still on the bedside table, so she pads over and scoops it up, blinking in surprise as she unlocks it to find dozens of new messages. All from Zoe. 

19:16 MORGAN @ ROOT // okay I am watching Bound now! you guys are fucking in the bathroom, don’t slip and hurt yourselves! safety first //

19:17 MORGAN @ ROOT // this is such a dramatic opening. it’s very #Artsy //

19:18 MORGAN @ ROOT // shit she’s hot. who let this happen? //

19:21 MORGAN @ ROOT // does this movie have an actual plot? should I have watched this sober? IT IS TOO LATE NOW I AM BAKED LIKE A DELIGHTFUL CAKE //

19:22 MORGAN @ ROOT // for a second I thought the bar was just gonna be called Hole and I thought that was brilliant. I’m gonna open a bar called Hole. a wet bar //

19:26 MORGAN @ ROOT // wet hands... torn pants... what a babe. I am definitely not unaffected by the babely babeness of corky right now //

19:28 MORGAN @ ROOT // only lesbians know what a labris is. where’s your tattoo, violet? //

19:29 MORGAN @ ROOT // oh my god she has zero chill though. jesus woman //

19:30 MORGAN @ ROOT // okay finger sucking but her hand has just been fixing your actual plumbing. not your sexy plumbing. hyGEINE okay. wash your hands //

19:31 MORGAN @ ROOT // 'i thought you were fucking my lover but then I realised you have a vagina! what a hilarious mistake we can all laugh about. women can’t have sex!' //

19:32 MORGAN @ ROOT // concept: kirsten stewart plays corky in jail as a teen //

19:33 MORGAN @ ROOT // wash my brushes. or ‘masturbate’ as most people say //

19:33 MORGAN @ ROOT // this fucking jacket and truck situation is so butch //

19:34 MORGAN @ ROOT // ‘I’ll ever understand women who apologize for wanting sex’ I FEEL THIS WAY TOO. URGH I WISH DIDN’T LIKE COCKS MEN ARE DISGUSTING ANIMALS //

19:35 MORGAN @ ROOT // #notallmen HAHAHA //

19:36 MORGAN @ ROOT // this Throat and Jawline situation is... gay. what is this movie? did it come out in theatres, wow, okay //

19:38 MORGAN @ ROOT // oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god THAT TATTOO I AM DYING. the hottest thing I have ever seen oh my god I am not straight at all //

19:41 MORGAN @ ROOT // welp I’m still not straight. oh god, more awful men. what are they trying to get out of him? if it is ‘juices’ they are doing good work this is nasty, my body doesn’t know what to do with itself //

19:46 MORGAN @ ROOT // aw violet honey //

19:46 MORGAN @ ROOT // really great legs though. I am paying zero attention to the plot, I have no idea what is happening //

19:48 MORGAN @ ROOT // knight in shining leather jacket on truckback //

19:51 MORGAN @ ROOT // literal blood money very subtle //

19:52 MORGAN @ ROOT //oh my god at this entire stealing is sex monologue. Fuckin hell //

19:56 MORGAN @ ROOT // back to ugh men //

19:57 MORGAN @ ROOT // good movie choice I am defs gayer than I was when we started. I say we like we are actually watching it together instead of me spamming you. this is fun though. I hope you appreciate it //

19:57 MORGAN @ ROOT //does she have fucking lock picks hanging from her ears? //

19:59 MORGAN @ ROOT // I have no idea what is going on but it’s so good. this movie is Too Gay //

20:00 MORGAN @ ROOT // oh yeah at some point she has to end up #bound in a closet. metaphors //

20:03 MORGAN @ ROOT // urgh ceaser. if there was ever someone who needed a bullet to the dick //

20:09 MORGAN @ ROOT // honestly what is with this mouth harp? is this a prison thing? a gay thing? do lesbians play the mouth harp? is it a metaphor I don't understand? I’m so confused //

20:15 MORGAN @ ROOT // why men talking? this scene of men talking and being gross to violet is so loooooooong. plot without porn. who wants that? //

20:15 MORGAN @ ROOT // every time he says violet I want to punch him in the face //

20:18 MORGAN @ ROOT // BAM BAM BAM. SLO MO FALL. THIS WAILING IS SO GOOD. ALSO BOOBS //

20:20 MORGAN @ ROOT // corky! finally! it’s been too long //

20:25 MORGAN @ ROOT // drip drip drip. so drama. much suspense //

20:28 MORGAN @ ROOT // these shots are so pretty I’m actually in love with the cinematography //

20:28 MORGAN @ ROOT // caesar for real looks like a lesbian in this tank top though. that booty. that haircut of a nineties pop star. the nineties were rough //

20:30 MORGAN @ ROOT // are the girls gonna get to kill anybody i want them to kill some men //

20:30 MORGAN @ ROOT // my angry feminist is showing. when is it ever not though?? this is a really good way to gay me up. appeal to my raging misandrist feminist soul //

20:33 MORGAN @ ROOT // this is so dramatic I can barely cope. RUN CORKY. she doesn’t wanna fuck yo caesar. as you KEEP pointing out she’s a dyke! //

20:36 MORGAN @ ROOT // the lighting in this whole movie is songbook //

20:37 MORGAN @ ROOT // urgh men waving penis metaphor guns round I‘m over it. shoving guns in girls faces whyyyyyyy //

20:38 MORGAN @ ROOT // I thought they were gonna be bound in a fun way. you have mislead me. but it’s good I like being angry at men. I always enjoy some good Rage. honestly it’s so tragic I like penises I’d be an amazing lesbian //

20:42 MORGAN @ ROOT // I feel like peckers is a word that should be used more often. it just sounds so sad. like tiny baby birds. is that an insult to tiny baby birds? birds are cute. naked mole rats. penile dentata. teeth! that is an excellent movie for feminist rage //

20:44 MORGAN @ ROOT // there’s so much plot in this movie when are the girls gonna gay again? //

20:46 MORGAN @ ROOT // there’s only ten minutes left only ten minutes to kill Caesar WE SHOULD ALL JUST STAB CAESAR //

20:48 MORGAN @ ROOT // it’s okay I stab him in my mind every time his face comes on screen so we’re almost there tbh. He’s just jealous of how hot corky is. who wouldn’t be. OH SHIT //

20:49 MORGAN @ ROOT // I bet this is your fave scene you kinky fucker. tied up on the floor writhing is a good look on her though //

20:54 MORGAN @ ROOT // this is like the BSG painting scene tbh. I love starbuck painting //

20:56 MORGAN @ ROOT // WAIT IS THIS MOVIE BY THE WACHOWSKIS? THAT.... explains a lot //

20:59 MORGAN @ ROOT // okay that was excellent and life affirming //

21: 35 MORGAN @ ROOT // were you guys serious when you said I couldn’t watch unless I was gonna join in? because I am pretty sure I want to join in but I DEFINITELY want to watch if that is on the table at all //

Root’s eyebrows have crawled so far up her face that they don’t have anywhere higher to go when she reads the last message, and she chews her lip, reading it again. Shaw is still sleeping, but when Root checks the time it’s gone ten, and she’s getting hungry, so she shoves her phone in her jammie shorts' pocket and sneaks out of the room, putting some coffee on and starting some eggs. 

Her mind chews over the Zoe situation while she putters around the kitchen. Sleeping with her could be a terrible plan, she lives with Shaw, and she’s one of Shaw’s closest friends. On the other hand, she has hooked up with Shaw before, albeit under different circumstances, and they seemed to deal with that okay. 

Objectively speaking, Zoe is really attractive and Root definitely wouldn’t kick her out of bed, but the worry that things could get very awkward between them all is definitely a factor. She ponders the facts as she dishes up toast and scrambled eggs and balances everything on a tray. Really, this is something she needs to talk about with Shaw. After she’s fed her, of course. 

Shaw mows through the food in short order while Root nibbles some buttery toast and sips her coffee, and when Shaw is done she hands her phone over, still open to Zoe’s messages. 

Shaw reads through them, scrolls up, reads them again and snorts, "it's been way too long since I've seen Bound."

“Me too. But more importantly... we should probably talk about how your previously heterosexual roommate and best friend is kind of trying to get in our collective pants,” Root shifts onto her side, still clutching her coffee mug. 

“Talking is my least favourite,” Shaw grumbles, draining her coffee and setting the mug down on the side table.

Root just raises an eyebrow and waits her out.

“Fine.” Shaw pouts, stretching.

“Is she for real?” Root trips her fingers down Shaw’s hip idly.

“I dunno. I think so. I’ve slept with quite a few curious ‘straight’ women, it’s usually pretty fun. I always kinda figured Zoe and I would fuck at some point. She used to hit on me all the time after she found out I'm into girls, I figured she was at least heteroflexible, and then we sort of hooked up a little bit, and after that it was... less like we were gonna definitely fuck eventually. Maybe it got too real for her. But now it's back to being all sexual all the time and feeling like we're definitely going to fuck.” Shaw is a little squirmy, but not overly uncomfortable.

“Do you wanna fuck her?” Root inquires, that kind of being an important factor in the whole scenario that Shaw has yet to bring up. 

"Yeah, probably. I mean, she's hot, she likes sex. I like sex, sex is brilliant. And our last threeway was spectacular,” Root can’t read Shaw’s tone, but she’s not tense. In fact, she’s splayed out and relaxed looking, scratching her belly idly with a blank but unforced expression.

“So you wanna fuck her with me as well,' Root inquires, fiddling with her mug handle. 

“Yeah, obviously. I mean, if you're into it.” Shaw looks at her for a second, all dark-honey eyes with an edge of insecurity visible.

“I have mixed feelings,” Root eventually decides on, “in theory, yes, but in practise I’m not sure it’s a good idea. Yeah, I’m into it. I really, really like fucking virgins, Zoe’s super hot and easy going. If it got weird during I think we’d probably all just laugh it off and bail, I can’t imagine that being a problem. But...There are many things to consider in terms of how we would navigate the whole thing, if we choose to.” Root tries to organise her thoughts, well aware that she is in charge of the ‘conversation directing’ part of their relationship. 

“Like what?” Shaw sounds genuinely interested, and Root wonders if Shaw and Zoe wouldn’t have even bothered talking about it, would have hooked up already if she wasn’t in the picture. That’s assuming Zoe had the same current feelings about lady sex without Root around. Although without Root here there would be less of a kink-dynamic, she guesses, so maybe it would all be more straight-forward anyway.

“Well...what kind of sex would we have with her, if we did? Are you okay with her seeing you sub, and if so is that gonna change the way she thinks about you? How would you feel if she wanted to have sex again another time? Are you concerned that she’ll get weird or awkward or uncomfortable around us if we fuck each other’s brains out?” Root pauses, but Shaw doesn’t chime in, so she carries on, “with Kelli, that was like, the most basic, easy kind of threeway. We didn’t give a shit what she thought of us, so we could do what we wanted. But with someone who’s gonna stay in your life it’s a bit more complicated.”

“Easy threeway for you, maybe,” Shaw mutters with a half-grin, “you guys just about broke me in half.”

“You liked it,” Root grins, poking her gently, glad of the moment of levity, “but my other points stand. We have to talk to her.”

'Urgh, can't we just fuck?”

“No, not really. She's your friend, and my friend. And she's never really been with girls before, and I think never been kinky,” that’s the impression Root gets, anyway.

Shaw sounds rather begrudging when she eventually answers, “I guess. I don't think she's done much in the way of kinky stuff, she would have told me. We talk about sex a lot. she's always had a lot of questions though.”

“So we have to figure out what she expects from hooking up with us, and what she's comfortable with. Like, does she want us to go vanilla for her,” Root absently trails her fingers over the myriad small scratches on Shaw’s thigh, a visual reminder of how not-vanilla they are. 

Shaw doesn’t reply for a moment, watching Root’s hand, “...I'm not really interested in that. Or at least, not all the way vanilla. We don’t really do that anymore, except when we're super sleepy, you always at least tell me what you want, I like that. I don't know that I'll be okay if you take that away from me.” 

“Yeah, I get that. But we can take pain out of the equation if that makes either of you uncomfortable. Stick to mental dominance stuff, maybe. But we should ask her what she's up for, see what is and isn't on the table. Does she wanna top you? Does she wanna bottom for me? We gotta make sure she's okay, you know. Let her know what we're into, and see if it's gonna work at all. It might just not work.” Root knows that Zoe has at least an idea of what their sex looks like, but knowing something and experiencing it are different, and she doesn’t want to fuck everything up for a one night stand. 

“You’re worried it would be weird?” Shaw avoids eye contact, but not in a distressed way.

“Yeah. After, not during.”

Shaw thinks for a few minutes, and Root finishes her coffee, resting the warm ceramic on her lower belly afterwards and enjoying the radiating heat. 

“I think... it'll be okay. But we should probably go for a one time only and then if we want to we can always revisit that later,” Shaw says thoughtfully, “‘cuz I don’t wanna feel like she’s gonna want to join in all the time, that would be weird. I live with her, for like another six months anyway. We’d have to do an invite only situation and make sure she was gonna be cool with that.” 

“Okay, that makes sense to me,” Root lifts her mug and admires the light pink circle left behind on her pale stomach and Shaw covers it with her hand, rubbing at the heated skin. 

"And I don’t think she’ll get clingy or awkward, she’s not really the type. I reckon she just wants to try it out.”

“‘It’ being sex with a woman, with two women, with us specifically or kinky sex?” Root inquires, putting her hot mug on Shaw’s hip and grinning at her slight intake of breath. 

“All of the above, maybe? Like I said, she asks me a lot of kink questions, but I think it’s us together that intrigues her,” Shaw carefully takes Root’s mug out of her hand and pushes it between her own legs, letting out a low gasp and rolling her hips while her eyelids flutter. 

“We are super hot, and constantly coming all over each other,” Root agrees, licking her lips as she watches Shaw molesting herself with the mug, “so you do want me to top you, if we fuck her?” 

“I always want you to top me... well, except for when I’m half-asleep and want sleepy morning cozy sex,” Shaw grins, leaning her head against Root’s shoulder, “but yeah, I think so. I mean, at least a bit. I’m not super into us planning the whole thing out though, I feel like that’s too weird.”

“So... give her a general yes and then sort of see if the opportunity arises, chat about limits as and when? Maybe she watches, maybe she joins in?” Root squirms closer and hooks her leg over Shaw’s calf, trailing her fingers across Shaw’s muscular stomach down to tangle with Shaw’s around the mug. 

“Yeah, works for me,” Shaw lifts her hips, tilting her head back on the pillow and Root takes the opportunity to press a kiss under her ear, breathe against her skin for a moment and make her shudder.

“Me too. Are you still sleepy-cozy? Cause I’d like to fuck you now, but fucking you softly would be lovely,” Root hums, sucking gently on Shaw’s pulse point, laving the hot skin with her tongue but resisting the urge to dig her teeth in.

“Did you just quote Tenacious D at me?” Shaw pulls the mug away from herself with a gasp and puts it on the bedside table, “but yeah, I’m all cozified. I don’t need the adrenaline right now, if that’s okay?” 

“Sometimes you’ve got to squeeze, sometimes you’ve got to say please,” Root croons with a laugh in her voice, sitting up to straddle Shaw’s hips, pulling her tshirt off over her head and grinning down at her while she rolls her hips, “I'm gonna fuck you softly, I'm gonna screw you gently, I'm gonna hump you sweetly, I'm gonna ball you...” she’s cut off by Shaw’s palm over her mouth and she giggles against it. 

Shaw raises an eyebrow and moves her hand, sliding it down Root’s chest to cup her breast, her fingers sending little fizzes into Root’s blood.

“Discreetly... okay I’m done, I swear,” Root rushes out the last line, unable to stop, and Shaw rolls her eyes. 

“Good, usually you think of better things to do with your mouth,” Shaw strokes her thumb over Root’s nipple and the sensation buzzes through her, tingling down into her stomach. Root arches into the touch, which has the added benefit of grinding her pussy against Shaw’s pubic bone, surprising a gasp out of them both. Shaw’s overheated from the coffee mug, so hot against Root even through her shorts it’s like sliding into a bath.

“Have you ever had someone ride you like this 'til you come?” Root shifts, lifts to kick her shorts off and then straddling Shaw again. She uses her palm to push up against Shaw’s pubic hair, then settles again, spreading herself apart with her fingers until they’re pressed clit to clit. The soft, warm feeling of Shaw against her pussy makes her bite her lip.

“Ah, no... fuck,” Shaw groans, one hand tightening on Root’s soft breast and her other clenching on Root’s hip, “usually I’m the one riding, and there’s a dick involved.” 

“You look good underneath me,” Root rolls her hips experimentally and leans one hand on Shaw’s sternum while she finds a rhythm that works, “feel good,” she grinds her hips in a little circle and is rewarded by Shaw’s fingers digging into her side.

Shaw opens her mouth like she wants to say something, but Root takes the opportunity to slide her fingers into Shaw’s mouth and Shaw sucks on them immediately, her hot tongue and the gentle scrape of teeth over the pads of Root’s fingers makes her gasp and rock her hips harder. 

Shaw’s stomach muscles are clenching rhythmically as she pushes up into Root straddling her, chases the contact and sensation. Root pulls her now damp fingers out of Shaw’s mouth, rubbing against her bottom lip for a moment and then pinching Shaw’s nipple. 

Shaw arches, groaning, pushing into her touch, and Root gives her a little more pressure, finding the balance between gentle and firm that Shaw seems to want right now. She stops pressing down on Shaw’s chest in favour of pushing two fingers against the base of her own clit even as she thrusts her increasingly slick pussy down against Shaw’s.

Hot pressure builds up in Root, making her hips dance faster and her breathing hitch and catch. Under her, Shaw alternates between watching Root with an intense gaze that reaches right into her stomach and fans the flames scorching her insides, and closing her eyes as she tips her head back, exposing her throat in a way that makes Root want to lean down and outline the ridges with her tongue. 

Her skin feels hot and sensitive, every sensation conspiring to ratchet her arousal up and up. The sheets under her knees rasping, the slide of their arousal easing the motion between them, the feel of Shaw’s nipple between her damp fingers, firm and so tender at the same time. 

Root can’t hold back the little cry that escapes when Shaw grabs her hips with both hands, starting to drive against her in earnest, and as she watches a flush suffuses Shaw’s chest and cheeks, the tan deepening into a reddish brown like Root’s been sucking the blood to the surface herself. 

She can smell sex and sweat and Shaw, she wants to lean down and press her face into Shaw’s neck, suck the salty skin between her teeth, but, oh god, the pressure right now is perfect and her orgasm is swirling in her blood, so close, just a little more. 

Shaw comes with a cry, sitting up and pulling, pulling on Root’s hips as she fucks herself through it, tense and quaking under her. 

Root lets go of her breast, leans back, presses her hands into the mattress to hold her weight as she arches her back, chasing her own orgasm as quickly as she can. 

Suddenly Shaw’s mouth is hot on her nipple and clever fingers press against her clit and Root is coming too, biting her lip and crumpling forward, trying to wrap her arms around Shaw’s back but Shaw is already flopping backwards and they end up in a sweaty heap, Root still straddling Shaw’s hips, torso to torso. 

Shaw strokes a lazy hand down her damp back, then leaves it cupping her ass as they pant against each other, Root’s forehead pressed against Shaw’s cheekbone.

Shaw starts laughing, and Root grumbles in complaint at her now bouncing mattress, slithering off to one side and looking up at her questioningly, “now that’s fuckin’ teamwork,” Shaw chortles.


	15. THREE VAGINAS

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Root makes Shaw talk to Zoe about all of the propositioning. They're stoned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warning- marijuana. Discussion of threeways. Adulting.

“Root says I have to talk to you about sex,” Shaw barges into Zoe’s room with little preamble making Zoe jump where she’s sprawled out on the bed with a textbook above her head. 

She puts the heavy book down and eyes Shaw for a minute and then sighs, “really? Can we be stoned?”

“I like it better not talking as well but she seems to think if we try and fuck you without figuring some basics out first that it might be pretty bad. Eh, classes start tomorrow so I guess a last hurrah couldn’t hurt. Roll us up.” Shaw flops down on the bed and steals a cookie from the small pile on Zoe’s stomach.

“Hey!” Zoe complains, then relents, sitting up sending cookies everywhere and grabbing a box from her bedside drawer, opening to reveal paraphernalia and starting to roll a joint, “she’s disgustingly well-adjusted sometimes, isn’t she? Can’t we just get battered and bang and never talk about it again like normal people?” She licks the paper and carefully sticks it down, twirls one end of the spliff and jams a filter in the other with the ease of practise.

“Apparently not. So, anyway, if you want to fuck us, we have decided we are cool with that, on a one time basis, date to be determined whenever we all feel like fucking each other. No schedule, schedules are for suckers. Just let us know if and when you’re feeling it and we will do likewise.” Zoe nods and lights the joint she’s just rolled and they sit in silence for a few minutes, passing it back and forth companionably. Shaw uses the free time to clear the cookies off the bed by eating them, because that’s the tidy thing to do.

After a little while, Shaw buzzing pleasantly and feeling rather relaxed, Zoe pipes up, “so I guess Root has some ground rules or something?” Zoe licks her lips and puts her hands behind her head, tshirt riding up a little.

“More she wants to know what your ground rules are, I think. Which I sort of get actually. She’s in charge of me, so I don’t have to to any thinking ever, but she does a lot of thinking. You know she beats the shit out of me..” It’s actually a lot easier for Shaw, she thinks, because of that element. Root is In Charge of everything so if it goes wrong she’ll probably feel like it was her fault or something, which is obviously stupid, but does make sense. 

“In a fun way,” Zoe interjects and Shaw nods.

“Obviously in a fun way. An extremely fun way. Do you want Root to beat the shit out of you?” Shaw inquires, fiddling with the hem of her tshirt and not looking at Zoe.

Zoe pauses before replying, “nah, I don’t think I’m into the pain stuff, personally,” she props herself up on one arm and looks frankly at Shaw, “if this is too weird for you that’s fine. I don’t wanna make anything complicated. I just think we could have really excellent sex, and can’t imagine a better lesbian experiment.”

“I get it. If Root wasn’t in the picture we’d probably have just done the getting battered and hooking up thing,” Shaw points out, struggling to find the words for what she wants to convey, “but Root is here, and we’re a thing, and you would like to be a temporary thing for our thing...”

“Now you’re just making dick jokes,” Zoe snickers, wriggling in an attempt to maneuver her feet under the blanket without actually getting up.

“I’m always making dick jokes,” Shaw nods sagely. Talking to Zoe about sex is something she’s had quite a lot of practise at, and she’s not feeling spectacularly uncomfortable right now, which is pleasing for her. She wonders if she’s maturing in some weird way, or if it’s just the confidence she has in what Root and she have together that is making this not super awful. 

“True.” Zoe gives up on the feet situation with a sigh, bending her legs up instead, “how is this gonna work, should I give you a list of stuff I do want to try? That sounds very organised and formal...”

“I’m not big on organised and formal,” Shaw remarks sourly, “it takes all the fun out of it. I think probably if you can just decide if you wanna top, bottom or middle, then everything else will figure itself out. We can talk while fucking, it’s not like some silent, choreographed situation. Oh, and Root’s kind of worried that you’re going to like, I dunno, judge me for being an enormous sub or whatever.”

“Ha, I’ve known you are an enormous sub for years. Remember that time you full-on had to take a cushion to class because you couldn’t sit down? Hilarious! I don’t care how you get off, and I guess Root has that covered anyway so I can just, like, help, or whatever,” Zoe eyes Shaw up, “cause let’s be honest you could probably kill us both without breaking a sweat so it’s not like I’m worried she’s hurting you without your consent. If I’m honest, I mostly just want all the orgasms, which I feel precludes me from ‘topping’, somewhat. Although I’m not exactly well versed in the whole scenario thing. Oh man, I just realised I’m going to see you naked!”

“... you’ve seen me naked loads of times,” Shaw raises an eyebrow, confused.

“Not in a sexy-naked way. You’re going to see _me naked_ , you’re going to see my vahjayjay! God, I’m embarrassed just thinking about it!” Zoe is, indeed, going red in the face, and Shaw just cracks up laughing, unable to stop herself.

“Did you not,” she gasps out between guffaws, “did you not realise that before you propositioned us? You thought we were gonna have magical-clothes-on-orgasm-filled sex? I mean, I know you’ve only slept with dudes but seriously...” Shaw can barely breathe, but it feels important to finish her sentence so she chokes it out painfully, “three vaginas. THREE. You know how much touching of vaginas, we do? So much touching of vaginas...It’s like all we do...” she makes a sound like a deflating balloon, curling up in total hysterics, and after a moment Zoe starts laughing too, until they’re both just writhing around in merriment on the bedcovers.

A clearing throat from the doorway makes Shaw look up, eyes full of tears that spangle her vision into streaks but she can just about see it’s Root. She flails, unable to stop laughing even for a moment. 

Root slopes into the room, chuckles at the state of them both. Zoe is laugh-crying, just heaving shoulders and miserable little gasps for air. Shaw tries really, really hard to force words out past her hysterics, “Zoe... Zoe.. oh, god, naked. Dying.”

Shaw feels the bed bow down as Root clearly takes a seat, and then a hand rests on her leg, petting her calf gently, but not in any way helping with Shaw’s inability to breathe. 

It takes a while for both of them to calm down enough to speak, and Shaw clutches her stomach weakly, “so, I think the threeway thing is on hold,” she pants.

Zoe nods furiously, wiping her streaming eyes and Root just looks from one to the other of them and shakes her head, “okay...”

“She didn’t realise,” Shaw chokes out, her throat already swelling with laughter again, “that there would be nudity.” And she’s gone again, laughing fit to burst remembering Zoe’s ‘dawning realisation’ face.

“Alright, well, I’m glad this was... super funny?” Root sounds quite confused, but Shaw can’t stop laughing long enough to agree that it was, in fact, super funny.

“Well, I actually have to get going, Control just emailed me. So... you guys have some fun hysterics and I’ll talk to you later,” Root pats Shaw’s calf one last time and stands up.

“First... first game. Tomorrow,” Shaw gasps, and Root nods.

"Yeah, I know. I’ll be there. Good luck if I’m not in time to see you before kick off,” she grins fondly down at Shaw and Zoe, both still giggling in fits, “you enormous stoners. Later.”

Shaw manages to lift a hand and wave weakly at her, and then Zoe laughs herself _off_ the bed and Shaw loses it completely again, laughter turning her into a wet, choking mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This actually the last one shot for now for real. I realised I couldn't go right into LtG off the back of the Zoe proposition without ironing it out a bit because otherwise I'd have to weave that in more than I have chosen to. 
> 
> Things to look forward to in LtG- soccer, smut, a Thrilling Mystery, smut, drama, suspense, fight scenes, more smut. And a bunch of smut, probably.


End file.
